One of the few full-length, theoretical treatments of the antipassive construction, this book provides an in-depth study of antipassives and their interaction with applicatives and causatives in natural language, three constructions that have long represented a puzzle to syntacticians. It argues that the antipassive reveals more about the introduction of the external argument than the demotion or elimination of the direct object, and demonstrates that there are at least two types of antipassives:Voice antipassives and verbalizing antipassives. Other valency-changing phenomena, like the applicative, causative, and reflexive, and their interaction with the antipassive, are also addressed. The book takes a cross-linguistic view and includes data from the Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Halkomelem Salish, Yidi?, Diyari, Russian, and Latvian, among others. Providing an up-to-date theoretical analysis of antipassives within the framework of generative linguistics, this is essential reading for researchers and advanced students whose focus is the syntax/semantics interface, especially valency-changing phenomena.
| ISBN: | 9781009417211 |
| Publication date: | 31st August 2026 |
| Author: | David A Basilico |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 326 pages |
| Series: | Cambridge Studies in Linguistics |
| Genres: |
Linguistics Anthropology |
One of the few full-length, theoretical treatments of the antipassive construction, this book provides an in-depth study of antipassives and their interaction with applicatives and causatives in natural language, three constructions that have long represented a puzzle to syntacticians. It argues that the antipassive reveals more about the introduction of the external argument than the demotion or elimination of the direct object, and demonstrates that there are at least two types of antipassives:Voice antipassives and verbalizing antipassives. Other valency-changing phenomena, like the applicative, causative, and reflexive, and their interaction with the antipassive, are also addressed. The book takes a cross-linguistic view and includes data from the Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Halkomelem Salish, Yidi?, Diyari, Russian, and Latvian, among others. Providing an up-to-date theoretical analysis of antipassives within the framework of generative linguistics, this is essential reading for researchers and advanced students whose focus is the syntax/semantics interface, especially valency-changing phenomena.
Bivalency and Intransitivity features in the following genres: Linguistics, Anthropology
Bivalency and Intransitivity is available in Hardback, Paperback
Bivalency and Intransitivity was written by David A Basilico and published by Cambridge University Press
Bivalency and Intransitivity has 326 pages
Yes it is part of Cambridge Studies in Linguistics series
£28.80