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论英语被动语态的语用功能

On Pragmatic Functions of English Passive Voice

GUAN Jin

（Guangdong University of Foreign Studies， Guangzhou， Guangdong 510420）

Abstract Passive voice is used when the doer of an action is unknown or when the target of an action should be highlighted. The present study will analyze the pragmatic functions of passive voice through the selected examples from authentic discourse.

Key words grammar; passive voice; pragmatic functions

中图分类号：H315 文献标识码：A DOI：10.16400/j.cnki.kjdkz.2015.05.060

1 Introduction

Literature on the studies concerning passive voice demonstrates that passive voice has been investigated from different angles with different focuses in traditional grammar and functional grammar. Traditional grammar examines the passive voice mostly from a syntactic perspective while functional grammar concentrates on the information flow of active and passive voice. The present study will analyze the pragmatic functions of passive voice through the selected examples from authentic discourse.

2 Functions of passive voice

2.1 To put the information focus on actions and processes

By using the passive voice， the information focus can be shifted from the actor of an action in the active voice to the action itself. The shift， as a consequence， augments the objectivity of the information conveyed. Therefore， the passive voice is universally used in scientific or technical writings， where the vital information is the procedures or principles rather than the doer of an action.？For example，

“Blood was drawn？from the subject using an 18 gauge Vacutainer needle taken from the antecubital space （inside of elbow） into 10 mL vacuum vials. The Vacutainer vials contained sodium heparin as an anticoagulant. The 10 mL of blood was diluted by addition of 40 mL of DI water to produce a 20% dilution. Dilution was necessary so that the blood could be drawn through the aspirator tubing into the nebulizer of the AAS for analysis.” （“Silver colloids： Laboratory report，” 2001）

This text is about how to make the blood sample， and the process of making the sample is more crucial than the actor. Therefore， the passive voice is used in this text to accentuate the information about the process of making the blood sample. If we replace the passive voice with the active voice in the first sentence， the text would be “we took 18 gauge Vacutainer needle from the antecubital space， and then we drew blood from the subject into 10 mL vacuum vials using the 18 guage Vacutainer.” The text in active voice losses the tone of objectivity for the involvement of “we” and attenuates the importance of the process. Besides， the sentence becomes rather wordy in active voice.

2.2 To aid the thematic development and coherence of a text

Passive can also aid the thematic development and coherence of a text. In order for a text to be coherent， the theme in a clause is supposed to be the theme or the rheme in the following clause， while the rheme is usually selected as the theme or the rheme in the next clause， so as to achieve a thematic progression.『1』Sometimes the passive voice can help to achieve coherence of a text by forming a thematic progression among clauses. For example，

“The nation's first federal education law — Elementary and Secondary Education Act — was passed in 1965 as part of Lyndon B. Johnson's war on poverty. The law has been reauthorized several times since， most recently in 2001 under President George W. Bush.” （“Obama Promise，” 2010）

By using the passive voice in the second sentence， the theme of the second sentence is the given information first placed in the theme of the second sentence， which helps the text form a thematic progression. If we use the active voice to deliver the information， the second sentence will be “the government has passed the law several times since…” with the theme being “the government” which is neither part of the theme nor part of the rheme of the first sentence. As a result， the text fails to form a thematic progression.

2.3 To ensure non-disclosure of the agent where the agent is unimportant， unknown or secret

Passive voice can involve the deletion of the original subject or deemphasizing the subject within a long passive that incorporates a by- phrase， so another function of the passive voice is to ensure non-disclosure of the agent for its unimportance or for its anonymity or for the confidentiality. The following example shows that the passive voice enables the writer to omit the unimportant agent and to put emphasis on the patient.

“Some entirely new observations have been recorded as well. In its 2007 report， the IPCC did not include the impact of Greenland's or Antarctica's melting glaciers in its estimate of future sea-level rise， saying it lacked sufficient data. But now the speed-up of flow from these glaciers has been documented. And while the IPCC noted in 2007 that every continent had warmed throughout the 20th century except Antarctica， that continent has now been shown to be warming as well — very likely due to man-made influences， says Hegerl.” （“Report： The case for global warming stronger than ever，” 2010）

In this example， the agents in the three passive sentences are deleted because the objects are the topic of discussion and the agents are unimportant. In other words， who recorded the new observations， who documented the speed-up of the flow from the glaciers and what shows the continent is warming are far less important than the new observations， the changes of the glaciers and the fact of the rising temperature of the continent， so the writer uses the passive voice to place the patient in the theme of the sentence for emphasis.

2.4 To avoid responsibility for actions taken

A hallmark of the passive voice is that it may conceal the subject who is responsible for the action. Businesses， politicians， media tend to use a great amount of passive voice in sentences for dodging their responsibilities. The following example was a report about Gen. David Richardss remarks in regard to an air strike killing about 70 Afghan civilians in October 2006.

“Also， NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it and the Afghan Defense Ministry are conducting a joint investigation into a Tuesday incident ‘in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province， in which a number of civilians were killed along with a large number of insurgents. ISAF commander Gen. David Richards， speaking to reporters in Kabul Saturday， said ‘in the night in the fog of war， mistakes were made. ISAF has said they were ‘satisfied that they ‘identified and targeted a group of insurgents， but said they were uncertain how many civilians were killed as a result but believes it to be about 70 individuals.” （“General： 'Mistakes' made in Afghanistan strike，” 2006）

Gen David Richards used the passive voice saying “mistakes were made” for evading the direct accusation of responsibilities. The doer of “mistakes” is obscure， leaving the public no clue to the wrongdoer. An active voice construction is “I made mistakes” or “We made mistakes” which seems rather explicit in admitting the mistake. But by using the passive voice， the speaker neither accepts personal responsibility nor accuses anyone else. This technique is widely used by politicians when they have made mistakes but do not want to take full responsibility.

3 Conclusion

This paper discussed four pragmatic functions of the passive voice through authentic examples from different genres of texts. The fact that the passive voice is frequently used in scientific articles， lab reports， academic papers， business texts and news reports depends on the nature of the passive voice.

References：

[1] Danes， F. （1974）. Functional sentence perspective and the organization of the text. In F. Danes Papers on Functional Sentence Perspective （pp. 106-128）. Prague： Academia.