Middle Voice and Passival
The term middle voice is sometimes used to refer to verbs used without a passive construction, but in a meaning where the grammatical subject is understood as undergoing the action. The meaning may be reflexive:
- Fred shaved, i.e. Fred shaved himself
but is not always:
- These cakes sell well, i.e. sell these cakes
- The clothes are soaking, i.e. is soaking the clothes
Only certain verbs can be used with such meanings. However a more general construction, formerly used in English, was the passival, where the progressive aspect of a verb was used in the active voice, but with passive meaning. Examples of this would be:
- The house is building (modern English: The house is being built)
- The meal is eating (modern English: The meal is being eaten)
The passival was displaced in the early 19th century by the passive progressive (the form is being built as given above). It is suggested that the passive progressive was popularized by the Romantic poets, and is connected with Bristol usage. Only certain verbs can be used with passival-type sentences in modern English, such as the verb soak in the example given above.
Read more about this topic: English Passive Voice
Famous quotes containing the words middle and/or voice:
“The middle years of parenthood are characterized by ambiguity. Our kids are no longer helpless, but neither are they independent. We are still active parents but we have more time now to concentrate on our personal needs. Our children’s world has expanded. It is not enclosed within a kind of magic dotted line drawn by us. Although we are still the most important adults in their lives, we are no longer the only significant adults.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
“This, mayhap, was not logic, but it was something more potent, more real than logic—the soft insinuating voice of Sentiment.”
—Emmuska, Baroness Orczy (1865–1947)