Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Modern Languages
Department
Modern Languages
First Advisor
Christopher Sapp
Second Advisor
Allison Burkette
Third Advisor
Christopher Sapp
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Passive unaccusativity refers to a phenomenon whereby L2 English speakers produce unaccusative verbs in passive constructions. Since unaccusative verbs are a subset of intransitive verbs and thus generally do not passivize, the question of how learners recognize unaccusatives without any overt input distinguishing subsets of intransitives has piqued the interest of many researchers since the late 1970's. Oshita's (2000) claim that passive unaccusatives are NP-movement markers is now a widely accepted claim; however, studies of more general characteristics of intransitivity have revealed close parallels between passive unaccusatives and other well-documented phenomena. The aim of this paper is to show that passive unaccusativity patterns with these other more general phenomena. A corpus of essays written by L2 English speakers was used for this purpose, yielding mixed results. Oshita's claim was not supported while predictions given more general characteristics of intransitive verbs were only minimally supported.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Chad Tyler, "Passive Unaccusatives In L2 English" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 896.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/896
Concentration/Emphasis
Emphasis: Linguistics