A syntactic-semantic study of agentive passive by-phrase constructions in English context with reference to their comprehension in Arabic

Abstract EN

Passive voice refers to a syntactic phenomenon which is widely used in a language.

The agentive passive construction which refers to a passive with overt agent is considered as one of the types of passive constructions which have great significance due to the role it does with regard to syntax, semantics and even to discourse.

Its own consequence in these linguistic fields is reflected in its being a cohesive device which makes information appear in a logical order in which given and short information is put at the beginning provided that new and long information is placed at the end.

It also helps to create a new sentence topic, moreover it completes the meaning of sentence due the important information it denotes.

There are some problems to be met with regard to the agentive passive construction.

It is worth mentioning that difficulty and ambiguity may be resulted in through both the deletion and retention of the agent.

The other problem is that unacceptability can be created as a result of lack knowledge of semantic roles.

This study aims at showing the appropriate comprehension of English agentive passive.

It also aims at disambiguating situation caused by the omission or the retention of the agent besides knowing where to add or remove the agent in passive voice.

This study hypothesizes that the importance of information affects the way agent is mentioned in passive constructions.