Cross-Germanic Promotion to Subject in Ditransitive Passives – a Feature-Driven Account
Languages differ with respect to which element they select as the subject in passive of ditransitive verbs: either the active indirect object (the goal argument) or the active direct object (the theme argument). In standard American English, e.g., only the goal argument may be promoted, as shown by the difference between (1b) and (1c). (1) a. John gave Mary a red bike yesterday. b. Mary was give