Impersonal Passive Voice - Test of Unergative Verbs

Test of Unergative Verbs

In most languages that allow impersonal passives, only unergative verbs may undergo impersonal passivization. Unaccusative verbs may not. The ability to undergo this transformation is a frequently used test to distinguish unergative and unaccusative verbs. In Turkish, for example, the verb çalışmak "to work" is unergative and may therefore be passivized:

Burada çalış-ıl-ır.
here work-PASS-PRESENT
"Here it is worked."

The verb ölmek "to die", however, is unaccusative and may not be passivized:

*Burada öl-ün-ür.
here die-PASS-PRESENT
"Here it is died."

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