Editing Linguistics (section)

== Voice and Valency ==

=== Voice ===
Describes the relationship between the action expressed by the verb and the participants identified by the subject, object, and sometimes other parts of the sentence. It's a way to articulate <u>who is doing</u> the action and <u>who is receiving</u> it, highlighting different aspects of the event or state described by the verb. Voice can change the focus of a sentence without altering the factual content of the action being described.

In the '''active''' voice, the subject of the sentence <u>performs the action</u> of the verb. The focus is on the '''agent''' (the doer) of the action; active voice constructions are '''direct''' and are often used to emphasize the agent's role in the action. 

In the '''passive''' voice, the focus shifts from the agent to the '''recipient''' (or '''patient''') of the action. The subject of the sentence is the entity that <u>experiences the action</u>, while the doer of the action (if mentioned) comes later in the sentence.

In the '''middle''' voice found in some languages, the subject performs an action <u>upon themselves</u> or <u>for their benefit</u>. It blurs the distinction between the '''agent''' and '''patient''' roles. In <u>Ancient Greek</u>, the middle voice could be used for reflexive actions or situations where the subject acts in its own interests.

Languages may have additional voices that provide different perspectives on the action. 

* '''Causative''' voice indicates that the subject causes someone else to perform the action.
* '''Reflexive''' voice shows that the subject performs the action upon themselves.
* '''Reciprocal''' voice is used when subjects perform the action on each other.
* '''Antipassive''' voice is found in '''ergative-absolutive''' languages; it decreases the '''valency''' of transitive verbs, often omitting or demoting the object, and focusing on the action and its '''agent'''.

=== Valency ===
Refers to the '''capacity''' of verbs to combine with a specific number of arguments (subjects, objects, or complements) to form a complete and meaningful sentence. It is a concept that helps in understanding how verbs function and interact with other sentence elements to convey information. The term originates from chemistry, where it describes how atoms combine based on their number of valence electrons, similarly applied in linguistics to describe how verbs "bond" with their arguments.

<u>Intransitive verbs</u> ('''monovalent''') require only <u>one argument</u> (typically a '''subject''') to form a complete sentence. They do not take a '''direct object'''. "The baby slept."

<u>Transitive verbs</u> ('''divalent''') need <u>two arguments</u> to complete their meaning - a '''subject''' that <u>performs</u> the action and a '''direct object''' that <u>receives</u> the action. "She reads a book."

<u>Ditransitive verbs</u> ('''trivalent)''' require <u>three arguments</u>: a '''subject''' who <u>performs</u> the action, a '''direct object''' that <u>receives</u> the action, and an '''indirect object''' that <u>is affected</u> by the action. "He gave her a gift."

Processes like '''passivization''' (the transformation from active to passive voice) can reduce a verb's valency by removing the need for an explicit subject, as in the transformation from "She opens the door" to "The door is opened." Conversely, certain constructions can increase a verb's valency by adding arguments, such as '''causatives''' which make an intransitive verb take an additional '''causee''' argument: "He made her laugh." Some linguists also talk about '''zero-valent''' verbs (or '''weather verbs''') that do not require any arguments, expressing <u>situations</u> rather than <u>actions</u> performed by agents: "It is raining."

Valency is crucial for sentence structure, influencing word order and the use of grammatical markers such as prepositions or case markings to identify the roles of different arguments. Understanding valency helps in identifying the semantic roles played by different sentence elements, like agent, patient, theme, or experiencer, enhancing the analysis of sentence meaning. Valency patterns vary significantly across languages, with some languages offering more flexibility in valency alteration than others. This variability is a key area of study in typological linguistics and comparative grammar.

'''Applicatives''' allow for the addition of an argument to a verb that wouldn't normally take it, effectively increasing the valency of the verb. This is achieved by applying an applicative morpheme to the verb, which enables the inclusion of an indirect object, beneficiary, location, instrument, or other roles directly into the verb phrase. Unlike causatives, which introduce a causee and create a causation relationship in the action, applicatives enhance the verb to involve an additional participant more directly in the action or event described.

Applicatives increase a verb's valency by adding a new argument to the core argument structure of the verb; this additional argument is often an '''indirect object''' but can also express other semantic roles. The added argument can specify a wide range of roles, including but not limited to:

* <u>Beneficiary</u>: Who benefits from the action.
* <u>Location</u>: Where the action takes place.
* <u>Instrument</u>: What is used to perform the action.
* <u>Reason</u>: Why the action is performed.

In languages with applicative constructions, the addition of an applicative morpheme to the verb signals that an extra argument is being integrated into the verb's argument structure. This morpheme can be a prefix, suffix, or infix, depending on the language's morphological typology.

In <u>Chichewa</u> (a <u>Bantu</u> language), the applicative suffix "-ir-" can be added to a verb to include an indirect object or beneficiary. For instance, from "pita" (go) to "pitira" (go for the sake of), allowing the sentence to include whom the action is performed for. In <u>Navajo</u> (a Na-Dené language), the use of certain verbal prefixes can add locative or instrumental arguments to the action described by the verb, altering its valency to directly incorporate these elements into the action's core meaning.

Applicatives provide a mechanism for languages to manipulate and expand syntactic possibilities, allowing speakers to incorporate additional information directly into the verb phrase and providing a flexibility to verbal valency. By incorporating additional participants directly into the verb's argument structure, applicatives can offer a more nuanced and precise way to express actions and relationships between entities.