Linguistics Question: Passive Voice

[FalTorPan]

Not long ago I posted a thread in this forum asking about languages that were very different from English, and many people shared some fascinating opinions on the matter.

I have another question about the presence of voice in various languages. In English a sentence is generally either in active voice, in which the "doer" (subject) of the verb precedes the verb, and the "doee" (object) of the verb follows the verb, as in the following example...

Bob ate a cheeseburger.

... or the passive voice, in which the "doee" precedes the verb, and the "doer" follows the verb, as in the following example...

A cheeseburger was eaten by Bob.

My question is whether many languages have only one voice or the other. For example, are there languages which utilize only the active voice, or only the passive voice? What are some examples?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I think most languages are stricter about whether they are VSO, SVO, SOV, or VOS. Active voice English follows SVO (subject-verb-object). Passive voice generally ignores this structure, which is why it often seems awkward. Not that it stops anyone from using it.

I think English (and English speakers/writers) are able to get away with finagling the language more. That's just one of the things that makes English such a bitch to learn as a secondary language.

 

[Deleted 2]

^ It is?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

^ It is?

So I've heard. Even having English as my primary language, and even as a writer, I find it can be a confounding construct. I also like to play fast and loose with the rules, too, so I must be a very poor authority on its proper use.

 

[Cicero]

It is. Several of my friends are ESL students, and all of them have remarked how easy the basics of English are to learn, and how difficult the details.

 

[Triskelion]

As an ESL teacher, I can attest to the fact that many of my Chinese students have certain common obstacles. Voice is one of them. Others are tense, since they tend to put everything into the present tense; polite language using conditionals versus familiar language using commands (everything is commands here, and conditionals come out sounding like mindless parroting). Pronunciation, accent and intonation. The actual usage of grammar conventions, most of it comes out as a direct vocabulary translation, as in "I like, I very like".

But the most notable obstacle I have found, at least among these particular students from China culture, is the disappointing lack of inquiry into the cultural contexts that inform language choices.

For example, if I try to explain that "Hi I'm Bob" establishes a different impression and/or relationship from "Hello, I'm Smith, Bob Smith," the usual reaction is utter, sheer disinterest, block, and often mockery. The very idea that it would be necessary to acknowledge or understand cultural differences is quite ridiculous, apparently. Which in part may explain some Chinese resistance to assimilation abroad.

But then in this condition, the education system is rote exam-oriented (The answer to How are you is always I am fine) rather than skills development-oriented (the answer to How've you been is....huuhhhhhhhh? What's wrong with this teacher)?? The school systems hammer grammar at the expense of skills, so you end up with people who have studied English for ten years and still can't go off script for a normal conversation. This might be strictly a China condition though.

Furthermore I would take this opportunity to inform folks that when speaking to people of other cultures, go easy on the idioms and irony. (ie, "I'll take a rain check", or "It was thoughtful of you to keep us all waiting"). These techniques are totally lost in international English.


Man, don't get me started.

 

[Gepard]

Man, don't get me started.

Actually, this is quite entertaining. Please, go on.

 

[anais]

How difficult it is to learn a specific language depends mainly on your native tongue. English is regarded as an easy language to learn in Germanic Europe. Chinese (Cantonese/Mandarin), among others, lies on the opposite end of the scale. It's all relative.

As for voice, I don't know of any language that doesn't use both active and passive.