Otben—Relations Expressed by the Passive Voice. 
93 
Adopted Means—figurative 
While the examined possible means of indicating the reverse 
relations some of them are rather indirect, the chosen means, 
so far as I have noted them, are vastly more so, being figura¬ 
tive in a most remarkable degree. I take up first 
A—THE FIGURE OF SELF-INFLICTION 
Difficulties of expressing passive thought before a passive voice 
existed 
It will, I think, be helpful to appreciation of the mental 
operation indicated by this title, to suppose ourselves in the 
predicament of one who does not have a passive voice at hi3 
disposal, hut who, thinking of an action, has begun his thought 
—and therefore wishes to begin expression also—with the ob¬ 
ject of the action, say with the actee—a change of order which, 
as argued on pp. 4-5, necessitates (except as indicated) use of a 
relation the reverse of that experienced in thought beginning 
with the actor. 
The history of speech establishes that such a one could not 
create the passive voice, nor could he use it, even were it of¬ 
fered him; for he has rarely sensed reverse relation, and more 
rarely still has sensed it as a whatsoever-it-may-be relation, 
the reverse of the relation indicated by the active voice. More¬ 
over such a one, however he express himself, in order to be 
understood will of necessity confine himself to words and com¬ 
binations that as a rule already are familiar to others; any de¬ 
viation in a meaning or a syntax must be small, must bring 
the hearer very close to where he was intended to arrive, must 
leave him where he easily can see from where he stands to 
where the speaker meant he should be standing. That is, ex¬ 
act expression failing, a somewhat riddle-like expression may 
be substituted, the linguistic law of substitution being that the 
riddle must be guessable—and guessed. 
