In this paper, we offer a theoretical characterization of the middle voice as distinct from the passive voice, and address the cross-linguistic morphological variation in realizing these two non-active voices. We identify the following derivations: (1) anticausative, (2) reflexive (and reciprocal), (3) dispositional middle, (4) medio-passive, and (5) passive. We propose that the voice head in derivations 1-4 is µ (middle), and that it is π (passive) in 5. We argue that a syntactic construction of the various derivations allows for the flexibility in the distribution of the various PP adjuncts found with different roots, without postulating the ambiguity assumed in lexicalist theories.
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