Absence of syntactic passive in creoles: Evidence from French-based Mauritian Creole

Syea, A. 2024. Absence of syntactic passive in creoles: Evidence from French-based Mauritian Creole. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique. 69 (2), pp. 174-202. https://doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2024.13

TitleAbsence of syntactic passive in creoles: Evidence from French-based Mauritian Creole
TypeJournal article
AuthorsSyea, A.
Abstract

This article examines passive-type constructions in Mauritian Creole, arguing that they are topic, not passive constructions. I claim that their initial argument (the displaced object) occupies the specifier position of a Topic Phrase, not the structural subject position. This proposal is motivated by the fact that nothing at the surface identifies the displaced object as a grammatical subject, except its position relative to an auxiliary or verb. The topic analysis is supported by both semantic restrictions relating to specificity and animacy and syntactic restrictions relating to distribution (word order) and coordination. It is also supported by the fact that these same restrictions do not apply in unaccusatives, a structurally similar type of construction. The important contribution of this article is that passive-type constructions in Mauritian Creole are ‘apparent’ rather ‘real’ passives, with the wider implication being that creoles, like many languages, do not use canonical passives to express passive meaning.

JournalCanadian Journal of Applied Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique
Journal citation69 (2), pp. 174-202
ISSN0008-4131
1710-1115
Year2024
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2024.13
Publication dates
Published03 Jun 2024

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