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In:The Lexicon–Syntax Interface: Perspectives from South Asian languages
Edited by Pritha Chandra and Richa Srishti
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 209] 2014
► pp. 171–196

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Middles in the syntax

 | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Published online: 25 March 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/la.209.08cha
It is well-known that while some languages mark middles and passives similarly, some others mark them differently. Researchers opine that this difference may ensue from the loci of middle generation; they can be generated either in the lexicon or in the syntax. I present some problems with the two-modular approach and propose a syntactic analysis for all middles, with the differences emanating from the choice of the non-active voice head. Languages like Hindi-Urdu which choose a middle non-active voice head fail to project a higher aspectual head hosting an external argument. The truncated structure makes the middles different from passives, in both morphological form and syntactic behavior.
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