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Linglib.Typology.Voice

Voice Typology: Argument Realization and Suppression #

@cite{kemmer-1993} @cite{kemmer-1994} @cite{beavers-udayana-2022}

Cross-linguistic substrate for voice alternations — the family of constructions (active / passive / antipassive / middle / reflexive / anticausative) that systematically vary which argument surfaces as subject and how event participants map to surface arguments.

The umbrella framing follows @cite{kemmer-1993}'s monograph The Middle Voice, which establishes middles as a coherent voice category distinct from passive/reflexive while sharing surface affinities with both. This file specifically formalizes Beavers-Udayana 2022's 2×2 middle-construction typology along two orthogonal dimensions:

  1. Suppressed variable interpretation: whether a suppressed argument is interpreted as coreferent with the surface subject (reflexive) or disjoint (dispositional/passive).

  2. Object realization: whether the internal argument is realized as a full DP (functional application) or an incorporated NP (head-adjunction to V).

Both dimensions generalize beyond middles proper — ObjectRealization covers noun-incorporation typology (cf. Mithun 1984) and SuppressedVarReading covers reflexive/anticausative readings broadly.

WALS-side neighbors: Typology.ArgumentStructure covers WALS chs 105--111 (ditransitives, reciprocals, passives, antipassives, applicatives, causatives); voice alternations specifically are at ch 107 (PassivePresence) and ch 106 (ReciprocalType).

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inductive Typology.Voice.SuppressedVarReading :
Type

How a suppressed argument variable is interpreted vis-à-vis the surface subject.

  • coreferent : SuppressedVarReading

    The suppressed variable is interpreted as coreferent with the surface subject, yielding a reflexive reading.

  • disjoint : SuppressedVarReading

    The suppressed variable is interpreted as disjoint from the surface subject, yielding a dispositional/passive reading.

Instances For
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    @[implicit_reducible]
    instance Typology.Voice.instDecidableEqSuppressedVarReading :
    DecidableEq SuppressedVarReading
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    @[implicit_reducible]
    instance Typology.Voice.instReprSuppressedVarReading :
    Repr SuppressedVarReading
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    def Typology.Voice.instReprSuppressedVarReading.repr :
    SuppressedVarReading → Nat → Std.Format
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      inductive Typology.Voice.ObjectRealization :
      Type

      How the base object is syntactically realized.

      Instances For
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        @[implicit_reducible]
        instance Typology.Voice.instDecidableEqObjectRealization :
        DecidableEq ObjectRealization
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        def Typology.Voice.instReprObjectRealization.repr :
        ObjectRealization → Nat → Std.Format
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        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
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          @[implicit_reducible]
          instance Typology.Voice.instReprObjectRealization :
          Repr ObjectRealization
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          structure Typology.Voice.MiddleType :
          Type

          A middle type classified by two independent dimensions: how the suppressed variable is interpreted and how the object is realized.

          Instances For
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            def Typology.Voice.instDecidableEqMiddleType.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : MiddleType) :
            Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)
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              @[implicit_reducible]
              instance Typology.Voice.instDecidableEqMiddleType :
              DecidableEq MiddleType
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              def Typology.Voice.instReprMiddleType.repr :
              MiddleType → Nat → Std.Format
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                @[implicit_reducible]
                instance Typology.Voice.instReprMiddleType :
                Repr MiddleType
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                def Typology.Voice.MiddleType.agentSurfaces (m : MiddleType) :
                Prop

                Which argument surfaces as subject in a middle construction depends on object realization, not on the suppression operation itself.

                • Incorporation: agent surfaces (patient is incorporated)
                • No incorporation: patient surfaces (agent is suppressed)

                This connects the MiddleType typology to the voice system's PivotTarget (@cite{beavers-udayana-2022}, (32d)).

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                Instances For
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                  @[implicit_reducible]
                  instance Typology.Voice.instDecidablePredMiddleTypeAgentSurfaces :
                  DecidablePred MiddleType.agentSurfaces
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