영어형용사적 수동의 본질과 특성

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the nature of adjectival passives in English and their properties. It claims that the past participle of the adjectival passives is an adjective rather than a verb in nature. Supporting evidence for this claim includes the possible occurrence of the participlein the pre-modifying position of noun phrases, its coordination with adjectives, its complement function of adjective-subcategorizing verbs, its word-formation with the prefix un-, and its ability to take very as a modifier. It is also shown that adjectival passives have their own properties different from those of verbal passives. They are said to be characterized by these facts: the absence of their corresponding active sentences, the general tendency not to take [by + agentive NP], the limited range of their subject, impossibility to be in progressive aspect, to form get-passives, and to occur after remain to be, co-occurrence with as yet, and complementary distribution with subject-oriented adverbs.