GRADIENCE IN ANALYSIS: A CASE OF PRESENTATIVE PASSIVE

In this paper, a concept of overlapping grammatical categories in alinguistic analysis is discussed. This overlap has gained recognition in research and is often termed as gradience. A specific instance of gradience concerning various types of the passive voice, especially the one involving less-typical information status, is used asan example to illustrate how gradience exists in different languages. The passive is known to function as a topic marker in a clause, but there are some cases where it is used as a focus device. By studying these features both synchronically and diachronically, one can find gradience of the passive both structurally and functionally.