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antipassive
This term is a specialized linguistic descriptor used primarily in the study of ergative-absolutive languages. It describes a process that is the functional opposite of the passive voice; while a passive construction promotes the object to the subject position, the antipassive demotes the object or makes the verb intransitive to emphasize the agent or the nature of the action.
In academic discourse, it is used as both a noun to describe the construction itself and an adjective to describe the voice or the specific form of a verb. Because it is a technical term of art, it is rarely encountered outside of theoretical linguistics and grammatical analysis.
Meanings
A grammatical construction that converts a transitive verb into an intransitive one, often used to indicate that the action is habitual, generic, or that the object is indefinite.
The use of the antipassive allows the speaker to focus on the agent's activity rather than the specific patient of the action.
Relating to a grammatical construction in an ergative-absolutive language where a transitive verb is made intransitive, typically by demoting the object to an oblique case or omitting it, while the subject remains in the ergative or absolutive case.
The researcher studied the antipassive voice in Mayan languages.