While looking up some grammar points I stumbled across [this
paper](http://aclweb.org/anthology/Y/Y03/Y03-1004.pdf) which describes
something that it calls "indirect passives". I can't think of anything similar
in English, and I'm having trouble understanding how it works. It seems that
this involves using a passive-voice verb in a sentence that specifies
different agents and indirect objects/agents. The paper gives several
examples, including the following:

> Taroo-ga kodomo-ni nak-are-ta. (太郎が子供に泣かれた)  
>  "Taro was adversely affected by the child's crying."
>
> Taroo-ga tuma-ni taore-rare-ta. (太郎が妻に倒れられた)  
>  "Taro was in trouble because his wife got sick in bed."
>
> Hanako-ga tonari-no gakusei-ni piano-o asa-made hik-are-ta.
> (花子が隣の学生にピアノを朝まで弾かれた)  
>  "Hanako was adversely affected by the neighboring student's playing the
> piano until morning."

I suppose that these sentences could be perhaps ungrammatically translated
into English as something like the following:

> Taro was cried by the child.
>
> Taro was collapsed by his wife.
>
> Hanako was played the piano until morning by the neighboring student.

But what is it about this grammatical construction that infers a negative
outcome? Especially the last example, which does make sense in English but
doesn't seem to suggest anything negative in English.

Could anyone provide an explanation on how this pattern works?
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2014-05-14T05:53:25.543
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question
grammar passive-voice
How to interpret indirect passives?
The key part of this construction that implies a negative outcome is the
passivity on the one hand, and the actions of the verbal phrases on the other
-- the subject of these sentences is having something done to them, in a way
that is outside of their control, and that something is unpleasant or adverse
in some way.

One construction I've run across in everyday English that comes close to this
same mode of expression is _at [person]_ or especially _on [person]_ : "My dog
done died _on me_." Somewhat more idiomatic and colloquial translations of the
sample sentences using this form might make the meaning more clear.

  * Taro _had_ a kid crying _at him_.
  * Taro _had_ his wife collapse _on him_.
  * Hanako _had_ the next-door students playing the piano all night _on her_.

In the last example sentence, the students playing the piano all night implies
a negative outcome of Hanako probably not sleeping very well.
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2014-05-14T06:46:47.377
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answer