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Middle Voice in Estonian
Author(s) -
Vihman VirveAnneli
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
transactions of the philological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.333
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-968X
pISSN - 0079-1636
DOI - 10.1111/1467-968x.00092
Subject(s) - estonian , transitive relation , affix , linguistics , middle english , opposition (politics) , history , sociology , political science , mathematics , philosophy , combinatorics , politics , law
This paper examines a derivational verbal affix in Estonian, traditionally called a marker of detransitivisation or reflexivisation. The paper argues that this affix is a middle marker, and that Estonian middle semantics generally fits into the domain of the middle voice as described in Kemmer (1993). The account using the middle has greater explanatory power for certain characteristics of these verbs. However, the middle must be defined in terms of what stands in opposition to it in a particular language, and the choices the language provides for describing an event. In Estonian, the middle contrasts primarily with the intransitive and transitive poles, rather than with the reflexive.