A Prototype Approach

English voice is one of the lasting topics of linguistic studies. The past few decades have witnessed increasing attention directed at English voice’s diachronics, functions, generation, gradience, etc. However, there is still limited consistent knowledge about English active voice and passive voice prototypes-their semantic values, morphosyntactic features and pragmatic function-and the prototype effects within the two subcategories of English voice.The present study aims to address three questions:1) What the active voice prototype is and how it can be characterized;2) What the passive voice prototype is and how it can be characterized;3)How the active voice prototype and the passive voice prototype extend within the two subcategories of English voice.This study adopts a synthetic theoretical foundation incorporating Prototype Theory, Cognitive Grammar, and force dynamics theory, with the purpose of exploring the semantic and morphosyntactic features of the active voice prototype and the passive voice prototype, their pragmatic function and the prototype effects achieved within the two subcategories through the extension of the two prototypes. This study is primarily qualitative; it employs the results of acquisition studies and corpus data, and the results of a questionnaire survey conducted by ourselves.Our findings are as follows:First, the prototype of English active voice, a subcategory of English voice based on its morphosyntactic behavior, is a symbolic unit which can be identified in terms of semantics, morphosyntax and pragmatic function. Starting from the active voice schema we posit, this study pins down the active voice prototype as a schematic representation of the voice constructions instantiating the schema. Semantically, the values of the active voice prototype reside in both the conceptual content it refers to and the construal imposed on the content. This conceptual content, viewed as the profile of the active voice prototype, refers to the direction of the concrete physical force transmission leading from a prototypical participant-the agent that functions as the source of the force-to another participant, the patient that functions as the endpoint of the force transmission inherent in a force-dynamic event. Here the force transmission direction profiled by the active voice prototype evokes the event schema as its conceptual base, and highlights the causal, interactive relationship between the participants of a force-dynamic event. As for the construing operation, the active voice prototype embodies a default construal of the force transmission direction starting from the agent and ending at the patient, i.e. the speaker’s construing direction coaligns with the natural force transmission direction. Morphosyntactically, the active voice prototype resides in typical transitive clauses elaborating the active voice schema and assuming the sentence pattern SVO. Both the subject and the object are realized by two distinct definite noun phrases coding respectively the agent and the patient involved in the force-dynamic event; the verb coding the punctual, telic action takes realis forms. The clause is affirmative and indicative. Pragmatically, the active voice prototype identifies the source of force transmission as the agent involved in the force-dynamic event and highlights his responsibility for initiating the event.Second, like the active voice prototype, the prototype of English passive voice, the other subcategory of English voice based on its morphosyntactic behavior as well, is also a symbolic unit which can be identified in terms of semantics, morphosyntax and pragmatic function. Similarly, this study defines the active voice prototype as a schematic representation of the voice constructions instantiating the passive voice schema we posit. Semantically, the passive voice prototype shares part of its values with the active voice prototype, for it refers to the same conceptual content-the physical force transmission direction leading from the agent to the patient involved in a prototypical force-dynamic event. However, the passive voice prototype differs from its active counterpart in the construing operation involved in the force-dynamic event conceptualization, because it embodies an unconventional construal of the force interactions when the speaker chooses to conceive of the force-dynamic event in a construing direction which runs counter to the natural force transmission direction inherent in the force-dynamic event.Morphosyntactically, the passive voice prototype resides in clauses elaborating the passive voice schema in the pattern of S be V-ed. The subject is realized by a definite noun phrase denoting the patient involved in events; the verb denoting the punctual, telic action in realis forms is semantically transitive, but is detransivized syntactically. The clause is also affirmative and indicative. Pragmatically, the passive voice prototype highlights the patient’s status of affectedness in a force-dynamic event, and channels the responsibility for initiating the event and thus causing the patient’s change of state to some other participant than the patient.Considering the conceptual base shared by the active voice and the passive voice prototypes, this study proposes a few types of prototypical force-dynamic events, namely, caused motion events, exchange events, and creation or consumption/destruction events. These events are always initiated by volitional agents, and entail the concrete, visible change of state in the patient, so there is an apparent force transmission direction inherent in these types of events. The instances of the active voice or the passive voice adopted by clauses referring to these concrete, physical events are therefore the central members of the respective subcategory of English voice. What’s more, the two subcategories of English voice achieve prototype effects through the extension of its prototype. The diachronics of English passive voice shows that the passive voice undergoes an evolving process which expands its morphosyntax in terms of grammatical relations and aspect. Our analysis of reciprocals, reflexives, get-passives, and adjectival passives, etc, also points to the prototype effects within the active voice and the passive voice subcategories.Our major contributions lie in the multi-dimension characterization of both the active voice and the passive voice prototypes. What is particularly noteworthy is that we have arrived at a more transparent account of the two voice prototypes in English using the notions of force transmission direction and construing direction. Pragmatically, this study illustrates how the notions’ responsibility’ and’ affectedness’ influence the coding of force-dynamic events as far as communicative intent is concerned.