Ambitransitive verb
Encyclopedia
An ambitransitive verb is a verb
that can be used both as intransitive
or as transitive
without requiring a morphological
change. That is, the same verb form may or may not require a direct object. English
has a large number of ambitransitive verbs; examples include read, break, and understand (e.g. "I read the book," saying what was read, or just "I read all afternoon").
Ambitransitive verbs are common in some languages, and much less so in other languages, where valency
tends to be fixed and there are explicit valency-changing operations (such as passive voice
, antipassive voice
, applicative
s, causative
s, etc.).
Generally speaking, there are two types of ambitransitive verbs, distinguished by the alignment of the semantic roles of their argument
s with their syntactic
roles.
When the subject of the intransitive form of the verb is an agent (like the subject of the transitive form), so that the verb aligns the syntactic roles S and A, then the verb is a common ambitransitive with an optional object, and the intransitive version is an unergative verb
, like English eat, follow, read, win.
When the subject of the intransitive form is a patient (like the direct object of the transitive form), so that the verb aligns the syntactic roles S and O, then the verb is known as an alternating ambitransitive, and the intransitive version is an unaccusative verb
, like English break, melt and sink. This means that the subject of the intransitive form corresponds with the direct object of the transitive version, so the roles are exchanged. Often depending on the linguist doing the research, the intransitive version of such a verb can be said to be in the middle voice, or to be an anticausative verb
.
The term "anticausative" derives from the fact that the intransitive form of such a verb implies a deletion of the agent of causation (the reverse of a causative construction), as if the event happened by itself: when a window breaks, we know it in fact it was broken (by some person, or by some physical alteration), but the anticausative form syntactically erases the cause and also makes it impossible or difficult to refer to it (as opposed to passive voice, where the agent can usually be introduced back as an adjunct, e. g. a prepositional by-phrase in English).
pronoun
that usually serves also for reflexive constructions. See for example, in Spanish
(which uses the pronoun se in the third person):
In the example, the verbs romper, hundir and derretir are all transitive; they become intransitive by using the pseudo-reflexive clitic, and the direct object becomes the intransitive subject.
Ambiguity may arise between these and true reflexive forms, especially when the intransitive subject is animate
(and therefore a possible agent). Me estoy hundiendo usually means "I'm sinking" (patientive first person), but it could also mean "I'm sinking myself", "I'm getting myself sunk" (agentive).
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
that can be used both as intransitive
Intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. Both classes of verb are related to the concept of the transitivity of a verb....
or as transitive
Transitive verb
In syntax, a transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects. The term is used to contrast intransitive verbs, which do not have objects.-Examples:Some examples of sentences with transitive verbs:...
without requiring a morphological
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
change. That is, the same verb form may or may not require a direct object. English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
has a large number of ambitransitive verbs; examples include read, break, and understand (e.g. "I read the book," saying what was read, or just "I read all afternoon").
Ambitransitive verbs are common in some languages, and much less so in other languages, where valency
Valency (linguistics)
In linguistics, verb valency or valence refers to the number of arguments controlled by a verbal predicate. It is related, though not identical, to verb transitivity, which counts only object arguments of the verbal predicate...
tends to be fixed and there are explicit valency-changing operations (such as passive voice
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
, antipassive voice
Antipassive voice
The antipassive voice is a verb voice that works on transitive verbs by deleting the object. This construction is similar to the passive voice, in that it decreases the verb's valency by one - the passive by deleting the subject , the antipassive by deleting the object The antipassive voice...
, applicative
Applicative
In the classification of programming languages, an applicative programming language is designed to support the development of programs as giving the result of a function of the combined variables. Successive functional transformations are applied to data to arrive at the result...
s, causative
Causative
In linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
s, etc.).
Generally speaking, there are two types of ambitransitive verbs, distinguished by the alignment of the semantic roles of their argument
Verb argument
In linguistics, a verb argument is a phrase that appears in a syntactic relationship with the verb in a clause. In English, for example, the two most important arguments are the subject and the direct object....
s with their syntactic
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
roles.
When the subject of the intransitive form of the verb is an agent (like the subject of the transitive form), so that the verb aligns the syntactic roles S and A, then the verb is a common ambitransitive with an optional object, and the intransitive version is an unergative verb
Unergative verb
An unergative verb is an intransitive verb distinguished semantically by having an agent subject. For example, in English, run, talk and resign are unergative verbs ....
, like English eat, follow, read, win.
When the subject of the intransitive form is a patient (like the direct object of the transitive form), so that the verb aligns the syntactic roles S and O, then the verb is known as an alternating ambitransitive, and the intransitive version is an unaccusative verb
Unaccusative verb
In linguistics, an unaccusative verb is an intransitive verb whose subject is not a agent; that is, it does not actively initiate, or is not actively responsible for, the action of the verb. Unaccusative verbs thus contrast with unergative verbs...
, like English break, melt and sink. This means that the subject of the intransitive form corresponds with the direct object of the transitive version, so the roles are exchanged. Often depending on the linguist doing the research, the intransitive version of such a verb can be said to be in the middle voice, or to be an anticausative verb
Anticausative verb
An anticausative verb is an intransitive verb that shows an event affecting its subject, while giving no semantic or syntactic indication of the cause of the event. The single argument of the anticausative verb is a patient, that is, an experiencer...
.
The term "anticausative" derives from the fact that the intransitive form of such a verb implies a deletion of the agent of causation (the reverse of a causative construction), as if the event happened by itself: when a window breaks, we know it in fact it was broken (by some person, or by some physical alteration), but the anticausative form syntactically erases the cause and also makes it impossible or difficult to refer to it (as opposed to passive voice, where the agent can usually be introduced back as an adjunct, e. g. a prepositional by-phrase in English).
Pseudo-reflexivity
Alternating ambitransitives are not uncommon in English. In the Romance languages, such verbs are rarely found, since the same semantic concept is covered by pseudo-reflexive verbs. These verbs behave like ambitransitives, but the intransitive form requires a cliticClitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
that usually serves also for reflexive constructions. See for example, in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(which uses the pronoun se in the third person):
- La ventana se rompió. "The window broke."
- Este barco se está hundiendo. "This boat is sinking."
- Se derritió todo el helado. "All of the ice cream melted."
In the example, the verbs romper, hundir and derretir are all transitive; they become intransitive by using the pseudo-reflexive clitic, and the direct object becomes the intransitive subject.
Ambiguity may arise between these and true reflexive forms, especially when the intransitive subject is animate
Animacy
Animacy is a grammatical and/or semantic category of nouns based on how sentient or alive the referent of the noun in a given taxonomic scheme is...
(and therefore a possible agent). Me estoy hundiendo usually means "I'm sinking" (patientive first person), but it could also mean "I'm sinking myself", "I'm getting myself sunk" (agentive).
External links and references
- Changing valency: Case studies in transitivity (edited by R. M. W. Dixon & A. Y. Aikhenvald, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne)