Still Puzzled by Adjectival Passives?*

Abstract

The received view for languages like English and German is that in adjectival passives the external argument of the underlying verb is not syntactically active, based on its lack of control into purpose clauses and the absence of the disjoint reference effect.1 In both respects, verbal passives behave differently, leading to the conclusion that the external argument is present in the syntax, even in the absence of by-phrases (cf. Baker et al. 1989; Kratzer 1994, among others). This is illustrated by German, in which a morphological difference is made between adjectival passives, which combine a past participle with sein ‘be’ ((1-a), (2-a)), and verbal passives, which appear with werden ‘become’ ((1-b), (2-b)).

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