antipassive

Antipassive is a voice or valency-changing construction found in some languages that demotes or suppresses the patient (the undergoer of the action) of a transitive verb. In an antipassive clause, the agent who performs the action often remains the main core argument, while the patient is demoted to an oblique NP, a non-core element, or omitted entirely. The construction is usually marked on the verb with an antipassive affix or particle, though some languages use changes in case marking or other mechanisms to reduce the verb’s transitivity.

Antipassive is distinct from the passive. In a passive, the patient typically becomes the syntactic subject, while in an antipassive the patient is suppressed or demoted and the agent remains the primary participant. As such, antipassive is associated with valency reduction and is one option within a broader family of voice systems that may include active, passive, antipassive, applicative, and causative layers.

Functions of the antipassive include allowing discourse to focus on the agent’s action without mentioning the patient, handling indefinite or difficult-to-present patients, or aligning the clause with intransitive syntax. It commonly coexists with ergative or split-ergative alignment, helping to manage the number and prominence of core arguments in a sentence.

Antipassive is attested across multiple language families, with notable presence in Austronesian languages and in several Mayan and South American languages. Its exact realization varies by language, reflecting the diversity of morphosyntactic strategies used to regulate verb valency and argument structure.