12. The category of voice

In modern english

1. The nature of the grammatical category of voice.

2. Debatable problems within the category of voice:

• the problem of the definition of the category of voice;

• the number of voices in Modern English;

• problems set by the constituents of the passive construction;

• different meanings expressed by the construction be+Participle II.

3. The notion of transitivity.

1. The nature of the grammatical category of voice

Languages differ greatly in the set of forms that they have adopted, in the peculiarities of their usage and the combinative power of words and idiomatic forms of grammar. From this point of view the category of voice presents a special linguistic interest. It is to be noted that there is nothing more supremely characteristic of English, especially in its later periods, than the extent to which it has developed the use of passive formations.

Being a grammatical category, the category of voice presupposes “a grammatical opposition in which different verb forms are associated with changes in the syntactic roles of units related to them. Thus in Everyone admired Margaret, Margaret is the object; in Margaret was admired by everyone it is instead of the subject [Matthews 1997: 398].

Linguists point out that the category of voice has a peculiar place among other verbal categories. Unlike tense, aspect and mood, which are inherent in the verb, voice is also a syntactically oriented category as it regulates the subject-object position in the sentence [Гуревич 2003: 25; Хлебникова 2001: 111; Штелинг 1996: 173].

There is another peculiarity of the category of voice, which makes it specific compared to other verbal categories. I.B. Khlebnikova underscores that “there exist considerable restrictions on the generation of passive from active”. Thus, active and passive constructions do not correspond to one another on the one to one basis [Хлебникова 2001: 117].

The category of voice is closely connected with the lexical meaning of the related verb that affects the meaning of the whole construction [Смирницкий 1959: 257].

2. Debatable problems within the category of voice

Debatable areas of the grammatical category of voice cover the following issues:

1. the definition of the category of voice;

2. the number of voices in Modern English;

3. problems set by the constituents of the passive construction:

• the list of auxiliaries;

• the meaning of participle II;

4. different meanings expressed by the construction be + Participle II.

• The problem of the definition of the category of voice

There are several approaches to the definition of the category of voice. The difference lies in the way grammarians see the nature and direction of relations between the action, its agent and the object. According to one of the approaches this category expresses the relation between the subject and the action or, in other words, the category of voice expresses in the verbal form the relation of the action to its subject. For instance, in English Grammar by M.A. Ganshina and N.M. Vasilevskaya voice is defined as the form of the verb which shows the relation between the action and its subject, indicating whether the action is performed by the subject or passes on to it [Ganshina, Vasilevskaya 1964: 187]. So, in this definition only the subject and the action are mentioned. Such are the definitions of voice given by many linguists, among them I.P. Ivanova, Z.D. Popova, L. Valeika & J. Buitkiené, I.P. Verkhovskaya, T.A. Rastorguyeva & L.A. Barmina and some others.

According to another view, the category of voice expresses the relations between the subject and the object of the action. In this case the object is considered salient and introduced into the definition. This approach may be exemplified by the definition of voice given by H. Sweet: “By voice we mean different grammatical ways of expressing the relation between a transitive verb and its subject and object”. V.D. Arakin defined the category of voice as a grammatical category expressing different relations between the subject and object of the action that gets its morphological manifestation in the verb form [Аракин 2000: 129].

Another group of definitions introduces the notion of the direction of the action. Thus the definition of voice given by B.S. Khaimovich & B.J. Rogovskaya runs as follows: “The category of voice shows whether the action is represented as issuing from its subject (the active voice) or as experienced by its object (the passive voice)”.

Of importance here is the linguists’ understanding that voice shows the direction of the process, though this understanding does not find its verbal expression in the above-mentioned definition. This idea sounds clear in the definition of the category of voice given in [Бархударов, Штелинг 1965: 145]: the category of voice expresses the direction of the action towards its agent (носитель действия). This idea also finds shape in the definition proposed by Prof. M.Y. Blokh: “The verbal category of voice shows the direction of the process as regards the participants of the situation reflected in the syntactic construction” [Блох 1983: 176]. On the whole, this interpretation of the category of voice is in full accord with the conclusion A.I. Smirnitsky arrived at on studying the Passive voice. This renowned linguist pointed out that the passive voice expresses a process having an outer source and which is directed towards its object from the outside.

So, the form of the verb may show whether the agent represented in the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action or not, in other words, the form of the verb shows whether the action is represented as issuing from its subject or as experienced by the (its) object. For instance, in such sentences as He walked slowly, He told me a story the form of the verb shows that the action is performed by the subject of the sentence, that the subject (in this case he) is the doer of the action, i.e. its agens (or agent). If we take the sentences as He was helped or I was told a story, the form of the verb shows the subject of the sentence (in these cases he and I) is not the doer of the actions, but it is acted upon, it performs the syntactic role of the patiens⁶²(or patient). Graphically it can be shown in the chart below:

Chart 1. The correlation of the doer and object of the action represented in a passive construction.