Passive constructions with intransitive verbs
Intransitive passive constructions (Intrpass) are generally limited to nominative languages that use the standard passive.1 An intransitive passive construction displays identical verbal morphology to that of the passive, with the only difference in its structure that it is derived from an intransitive verb rather than a transitive one.2 The agent of the active version of such verbs often cannot appear in any form in the sentence. In case it does appear its form can be the same as the agent of the transitive sentence or the agent of the matching passive construction, or, alternatively, it can be different from both.
Types:
NoIntrpass: The language does not have intransitive passive constructions.3
NoAgIntrpassNonSub: The language does have intransitive passive constructions, but no noun representing the agent appears in them 4 and the passive intransitive verb does not have a subject
NoAgIntrpassSub: The language does have intransitive passive constructions, but no noun representing the agent appears in them5 and the subject of the passive intransitive verb is not an agent.
IntrpassAkt: The language does have intransitive passive constructions (= noun + passive form of an intransitive verb), where the noun representing the agent is treated identically to the agent in standard active constructions.
IntrpassPass: The language does have intransitive passive constructions (= noun + passive form of an intransitive verb), where the noun representing the agent is treated identically to the agent in standard passive constructions.
IntrpassElse: The language does have intransitive passive constructions (= noun + passive form of an intransitive verb), and the noun representing the agent is treated differently from the agent of either a standard active or a standard passive construction.
With the exception of the value NoIntrpass, two values may be listed for a language. If one type is dominant (appearing in more tenses, aspects, and moods), a slash (/) can separate the two values, with the dominant value appearing first; if neither is dominant, they are listed with an ampersand (&) separating the two.
1: See the parameter Verbal morphology of the passive.
2: Compare to the antipassive, which requires an originally transitive verb. The intransitive passive construction should also not be confused with the pseudopassive. In English, pseudopassive constructions can be formed from both transitive and intransitive verbs.
3: If a language has the value NoPass in the parameter Verbal morphology of the passive, the same value automatically applies here. This value may also apply to languages that use the passive, but lack the intransitive passive construction.
4: Nouns denoting place, time or another circumstances as well as other parts of speech can be present. Such constructions are often dealt with among impersonals in linguistic literature.
5: Nouns denoting place, time or another circumstances as well as other parts of speech can be present. Such constructions are often dealt with among impersonals in linguistic literature.