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Passive
Voice: How is it Interpreted
Title:
Passive Voice: How is it Interpreted
Persons:
Carol C. Tipton, Ed.D., CSC, CI, CT |
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| The passive
voice structure occurs in all areas of discourse in the
English language. If interpreters are unable to recognize
the passive voice in its various forms, the rendering
of a passive voice structure into ASL might show the direct
object performing the action instead of receiving it.
For example, "Interpreters are expected to arrive
on time," could be conveyed as "Interpreters
expect to arrive on time." This article will describe
progressively more linguistically complex forms of passive
voice usage with guidelines on how each is best conveyed
in ASL. |
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On the sentential
level, passive voice is a verb inflection in which the
perceived subject, instead of performing the action of
the verb, receives the action of the verb. The grammatical
subject, therefore, functions as a direct object. For
example, in the sentence, "The
dog was bitten by the cat," the dog is passive.
The cat is performing the action, and the dog receives
the action.
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| A passive
voice utterance contains the following components: |
- Direct Object/Grammatical
Subject or Noun (mandatory)
- BE verb, such as am,
is, are, was, were, be, being, been (optional)
- Past Participle (mandatory)
- The word by (optional)
- The Agent or Functional Subject/Performer
of the Action (optional)
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| The English
language is replete with passive voice usage, which
can be seen in the following situations or for the
following reasons: |
- When the subject is unknown
Our house was papered
last night.
- When the subject is relatively
unimportant.
In school we
are taught to spell correctly.
The breathing tubes of the comatose woman will
be removed this afternoon.
- To avoid putting someone on
the defensive, avoiding "you" statements.
(to the janitor) My
wastebasket has not been emptied for three days
instead of You haven't emptied my wastebasket
for three days.
- To make institutional or policy
statements.
Parking is permitted
in all metered spaces.
- To avoid taking personal responsibility
The report was inadvertently
misfiled instead of I accidentally filed the
report in the wrong location.
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The passive voice structure
takes many forms in the English language, many of which
will be described subsequently. The first step in effectively
interpreting passive voice is to recognize it when it
occurs. Failure to do so often results in showing the
direct object performing the action instead of receiving
it.
Once a passive voice utterance is recognized, the techniques
described here can be used to ensure that the object receives
the action of the verb. Depending on the complexity of
the utterance, these techniques may be used in combination
or alone. After each technique, an example will be given,
followed by a gloss of a suggested rendering into ASL*.
This suggested rendering represents only one of several
possible interpretations into ASL. Limited space precludes
listing more than one. (*note: The author recognizes that
because ASL does not have a standard written form, attempting
to depict ASL by glosses is limited at best. Glosses are
given from the perspective of a right handed signer.)
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- When the agent is specified,
usually with a "by" phrase, show that
agent performing the action.
Example:
The house was purchased by a young couple.
ASL:
house, who buy?(RQ) couple young
- Put the object in sign space
as a classifier and show the action happening
to it.
Example:
That teacher is not liked.
ASL:
that teacher 1-CL(left) like? (the sign should
move from the body toward the 1-CL accompanied
by eye gaze) not
If the interpreter signs, teacher not like,
it appears that the teacher does not like something,
as if the teacher is performing the action,
instead of conveying the meaning that some other
entity does not like the teacher.
- When the performer of
the action is not specified, create a logical
agent based on context.
Example:
The two boys were arrested yesterday.
ASL:
know boys two-of-them? yesterday police arrest
- When the performer of
the action is not specified, allow the signer
to become an unspecified agent, performing the
action.
Example:
That pill must be taken with water.
ASL: that pill, do? must pop-in-mouth, water
drink swallow
- Restructure the sentence.
Example:
The car was sold to me.
ASL:
car, me buy
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| Various passive
voice forms, starting with the more obvious and moving
into more complex, will now be listed and suggested renderings
into ASL given. |
- Standard Passive, which includes:
Noun + Be Verb + Past Participle + BY + Agent
Example:
Tom Sawyer was written by Mark Twain.
ASL:
book title Tom Sawyer, who write? Mark Twain
Example:
The cars were washed by the tenth grade class.
ASL:
cars 3-CL+++, 10th grade class wash
This structure can be interpreted fairly easily
into ASL because it states the object first
and can thereby follow the object-subject-verb
structure of ASL
- Standard Passive without
the "BY" phrase
In these utterances the agent, or who is performing
the action, is unknown.
Example:
Children should never be spanked.
ASL:
child (in sign space lower than the signer)
spank (show the signer performing the action)
should? Never!
Example:
You are expected to keep your room clean.
ASL:
your room, keep clean, must (restructure)
Example:
The parents of the ADHD children were interviewed.
ASL:
children point-left have ADHD, their parents
2h5CL (in line slightly to the right) interview+++
(move from left to right down the line with
eye gaze)
- Standard Passive without
the "Be" phrase
In this structure two sentences are merged into
one, and the "be" verb is omitted.
Example:
The actor was chosen for that role. He had little
previous experience. The actor chosen for that
role had little previous experience.
In rendering such
a sentence into ASL, the interpreter may need
to expand it back to the two original sentences.
ASL:
actor 1-CL (left hand) choose (originate the
sign at the classifier) for? that role (right).
point-toward-classifier have much experience?
no, little
Example:
Students allowed to drive can park in the upper
lot.
ASL:
some student (face left) permit (direct it toward
the students) drive. they park where? upper
level park+++
Example:
Opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily
those of its sponsors.
ASL:
this program/show, people express different++
opinions. sponsors agree? not always
- Passive Gerunds
A gerund is a verb form which functions as a
noun.
Example:
The child enjoys being read to by her mother.
ASL:
mother book-open story+++, girl/child sit-beside
watch enjoy
Example:
He hates being teased.
ASL:
boy 1-CL tease (directed toward the classifier)
hates (a number of different signs could be
used here but the one chosen should be directed
toward the location in sign space where the
sign for "tease" originated)
Example:
She wants to be asked to the prom.
ASL:
Girl point-left want someone invite (originating
where the girl is located in sign space) go-to
prom (move right)
- Passive Participial Adjectives
A past participle can function as an adjective
preceding a noun, e.g., lost boys, chosen people,
stolen car. If an adjective describes a state
of being, e.g., "frightened" means
the same as "afraid", then it is a
normal adjective and can be handled as such
by an interpreter. If, however, it describes
a state of becoming or of the noun being acted
upon, it is a passive adjective and must be
handled by expansion and deliberate use of space.
Example:
Leah was the unloved wife of Jacob.
ASL:
Leah, 1-CL (left) her husband Jacob love her?
not
Example:
We stored the donated items in the garage.
ASL:
different+++ things (2 hands) people give+++
(directed toward the signer), put/store where?
garage
Example:
Theirs was an arranged marriage.
ASL:
two-of-them marry how? his mother father (left)
her mother father (right) meeting discuss decide
two-of-them marry
- Deep Structure Passives.
Occasionally an utterance can only be recognized
as passive by analyzing its deeper meaning because
the surface structure does not follow the standard
form for passives.
Examine the following example:
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John is
eager to please. |
John is
easy to please. |
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In the first example John is performing the
action of pleasing while in the second others
are performing the action of pleasing him.
The first one is active, and the second passive.
Consider the following examples:
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Pat is interested.
Chris is excited.
Lee is bored. |
Pat is interesting.
Chris is exciting.
Lee is boring. |
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On the surface it would appear that the left-hand
column could contain passive structures because
of the presence of a past participle in each
sentence. However, each example to the left
describes how that person feels, and each
past participle functions as a regular adjective.
The right-hand examples describe how others,
who are not specified, feel about each person.
These examples need to be treated like passives
in order to be interpreted accurately into
ASL. In ASL each sentence might be rendered
as follows:
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English |
ASL |
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Pat is interested. |
Pat eager |
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Pat is interesting.
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Pat 1CL(left)
interest(show the sign moving toward the classifier) |
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Chris is
excited.
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Chris excited
(use body shift to take on Chris' demeanor)
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Chris is
exciting. |
Chris influence-me,
excite (meaning "I am excited by Chris.") |
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Lee is bored.
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Lee bore |
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Lee is boring |
Lee point
bore person (eyegaze toward Lee) |
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| The following
paragraph contains examples of passive voice usage. Try
to identify each passive utterance and determine how it
would best be conveyed in ASL. The paragraph will be repeated
with passive structures italicized, and a possible interpretation
for each given. |
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"CEUs
are awarded based on contact hours attended. This
means that participants must sign in to each activity,
verifying that they attended the hours indicated.
For most activities, participants will be awarded
.1 CEU for every contact hour of participation documented
by the Sponsors. One-half credit will be awarded
to those who attended at least half...of an activity."
(Diana Macdougall, "CMP Update", RID Views,
February, 1999, p. 22)
"CEUs are awarded based on contact hours attended.
This means that participants must sign in to each
activity, verifying that they attended the hours
indicated. For most activities, participants will
be awarded .1 CEU for every contact hour of participation
documented by the Sponsors. One-half credit will
be awarded to those who attended at least half...of
an activity." |
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CEUs are awarded |
ASL:
CEU(close to body) give(away from body) The signer
becomes the unspecified agent. |
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..hours attended
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ASL:
hours you/they attend Add a logical agent. |
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..hours indicated
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ASL:
hours you/they put-down Add a logical agent. |
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participants will
be awarded |
ASL:
participants will receive Restructure. |
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documented by
Sponsors
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ASL:
sponsors document/put-down Show the agent performing
the action. |
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one-half
credit will be awarded |
ASL:
1/2 credit(close to body) give(from body) will The
signer becomes the unspecified agent. |
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Interpreters need to be aware of the various forms that
the passive voice structure can take in English in order
to accurately render the meaning into ASL. By studying
the examples given above and practicing with material
found elsewhere, interpreters can recognize passive voice
utterances when they occur while interpreting and be able
to process them in a way which preserves the original
meaning. |
Permission to post the article
granted by Carol Tipton and RID. |
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