Abstract
This article argues that children's difficulty with passive constructions is related to properties of the by-phrase. Specifically, we argue that children are in full control of all aspects of the passive construction except for the ability to transmit the external θ-role of the predicate to the by-phrase; we thus reject Borer and Wexler's (1987) claim regarding the maturation of A-chains. Our conclusion is dictated by the results of an experiment we conducted, and supported by data already present in the literature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 311-332 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Linguistic Inquiry |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- A-chains
- Acquisition
- By-phrase
- External θ-role
- Maturation
- Passive
- θ-transmission