What is “voice”?
In Linguistics, “voice” is the term used to describe the relationship between a verb and its subject (even when it is unstated).
Like tense and aspect, “voice” is also a concept that is universal to verbs in all languages, as a subject must relate to its verb (the action) in some way, no matter what the language is.
In most of the world’s languages, verbs can only be in one of two “voices”: “active voice” and “passive voice.”
When a subject is the “doer” that directly performs a verb’s action, the voice of the verb is “active.” We say that the verb is “in active voice.”
Conversely, when a subject is the “recipient” that directly receives a verb’s action, the voice of the verb is “passive.” We say that the verb is “in passive voice.”
For example, let’s consider these sentences in English:
Susie ate the cake.
In this sentence, the subject “Susie” is the “doer” of the action of the finite verb, “ate.” This means “ate” is in “active voice.” The relationship between the subject and the verb is “active.”
The cake was eaten.
In this sentence, the subject “the cake” is the “recipient” of the action of the finite verb, “was eaten.” This means “was eaten” is in “passive voice.” The relationship between the subject and the verb is “passive.”
In the English example sentences above, the subjects “Susie” and “the cake” are both explicit (as these are finite clauses, and finite clauses in English require stated subjects.)
It is clear to see that “ate” and “was eaten” are in “active” and “passive” voice respectively in these examples, since these verbs have clear subjects that relate to them as the “direct doer” and “direct recipient.”
However, even when the subject of a verb’s action is not clearly stated, that subject still “exists,” because an action always has either a “doer” or a “direct recipient.”
As such, even verbs that do not have clear, stated subjects have “voice.”
For example, let’s consider this sentence in English:
Playing her favorite game, Susie was happy again.
In this sentence, “playing” is a verb form denoting an action, but it does not have a clearly stated subject (because it is not the finite verb of a clause, and, in English, only finite verbs must have stated subjects all the time.)
However, even though “playing” does not have a clearly stated subject, it still has an “implied” subject--because “something” must be doing this action for it to make sense in meaning.
In this case, the implied subject of “playing” is also “Susie,” as it is “Susie” who “was happy” while doing the action of “playing her favorite game.”
Because this implied subject is the “doer” of the action of “playing,” the verb “playing” is in “active voice.” The relationship between the implied subject “Susie” and the verb “playing” is “active.” This verb has “active voice” despite not having a stated subject.
Now, let’s look at another sentence in English:
Played by both young and old, football is a beloved sport all over the world.
This time, “played” is a form of a verb denoting an action that does not have a stated subject. However, it has an implied subject—“football.”
As the implied subject “football” is the “direct recipient” of the action of “played,” this verb is in “passive voice.” The relationship between the implied subject “football” and the verb “played” is “passive.” This verb has “passive voice” despite not having a stated subject.
From these examples, we see that, even when a verb does not have a stated subject, it still has a “voice” that shows the relationship between it and its implied subject.
Now, as with tense and aspect, different languages have different ways of showing “voice.” English, as we have discussed elsewhere, is a (slightly) “synthetic” language. That is, it uses the strategy of changing word forms to show different grammatical information, including the voice of verbs.
For example, the word forms of “ate” and “was eaten” in the first two examples show us their respective “active” and “passive” voices just from their verb forms alone.
(Note: This post is about the Linguistics concept of “voice” and not the specific verb forms that show different voices in English. Posts under the “Characteristics of English” section discuss English verb forms in more detail.)
However, “analytic” languages (the opposite of “synthetic” languages) do not change their word forms to convey grammatical information. Chinese languages, including Cantonese, being typical examples of “analytic” languages, do not change their word forms to show “voice.”
Rather, Chinese uses additional particles and markers to show “voice,” just like it does for aspect. For example, the most common marker for the passive voice is “被,” like in “我被打,” which has the marker “被” in front of the verb “打.”
If we have a basic understanding of the scientific concept of “voice,” we can learn the strategies that our target language uses to show the “active” and “passive” voices much more effectively.
For example, if Chinese speakers are cognizant of the fact that English, unlike Chinese, uses word form changes to express voice, they can learn the relevant word form changes in English must more consciously and systematically.
「voice 」（動詞的「語態」）是甚麼?
語言學中，「voice 」（語態）是描述某動詞與它主語（即使沒有被明確指出的主語）之間的關係的術語。
正如「tense 」（時態）和「aspect 」（體貌），「voice 」也是跨越不同語言的普遍概念，因為不論甚麼語言，主語也必定要以某種方式與其動詞（動作）互相關連的。
大多數語言中，動詞都只會有兩種「voice 」－ 「active voice」（主動語態）和「passive voice」（被動語態）。
如果主語是直接實行動詞動作的「執行者」，該動詞的「voice」便是主動。我們稱之為「active voice」。
相反，如果主語是直接承受動詞動作的「承受者」，該動詞的「voice」便是被動。我們稱之為「passive voice」。
我們用兩個英文例句看看「voice」這個語言學概念：
Susie ate the cake.
主語「Susie」是限定動詞「ate」表達的動作的執行者，所以「ate」是「active voice」的。這裡的主語和動詞之間的關係是「主動」的。
The cake was eaten.
主語「the cake」是限定動詞「was eaten」的動作的承受者，所以「was eaten」是「passive voice」的。這裡的主語和動詞之間的關係是「被動」的。
以上兩個英文例句都有明確表達了出來的主語（「Susie」和「the cake」），這是因為這兩句都是限定子句（finite clause），而英文文法中，限定子句必須有明確主語。
因為這兩個例句都有明確的主語去直接執行及承受限定動詞的動作，我們可以很清楚地看到例句中的「ate」和「was eaten」分別是「active voice」及「passive voice」的。
但是，要留意，即使某動詞的主語沒有被明示，它仍然是有「voice」的，因為它的動作都一定會有一個暗示了的主語去「執行」或「接受」的。
看看下面的英文例句：
Playing her favorite game, Susie was happy again.
句子中的「playing」是一個表示動作的動詞字形，但它沒有明確的主語（因為它不是子句中的限定動詞。英文文法中，只有限定動詞是必須有明確主語）。
不過，雖然「playing」沒有一個明確的主語，它還是會「隱含」一個主語的 －因為必定有某主語來進行這動作，句子才可表達到所須意思。
這裡，這個隱含的主語都是整句的主語「Susie」，因為「Susie」正是在進行「playing her favorite game」動作時，變得「happy again」的。
由於該隱含的主語是「playing」的「執行者」，所以動詞「playing」呈現的是「active voice」。隱含的主語「Susie」和動詞「playing」之間的關係為「主動」。即使在沒有明確顯示出主語的情況下，該動詞仍然具有主動語態。
再看看另一個英文例句：
Played by both young and old, football is a beloved sport all over the world.
這裡的「played」是一個表示動作的動詞字形，並沒有明確的主語。不過，它同樣擁有一個隱含的主語 「football」。
因為該隱含的主語「football」是動作「played」的「直接承受者」（「football」是「被玩」的），所以這動詞呈現的是「passive voice」。隱含的主語「football」和動詞字形「played」之間的關係為「被動」。即使在沒有顯示明確主語的情況下，該動詞仍然具有被動語態。
從以上例子可見，即使動詞並沒有配合一個明確顯示的主語，它仍然具有「voice」來呈現與隱含的主語之間的關係。
與「tense 」和「aspect 」一樣，不同語言均有不同的方式來呈現動詞的「voice」。我們在其他篇章中討論過，英文屬於「輕度」的「synthetic language」（綜合語），表示它會通過改變少許字形來顯示各種文法信息，也包括動詞的「voice」。
例如上述的首兩個例句，我們單憑「ate」和「was eaten」本身的動詞字形便能看出它們分別是「active voice」及「passive voice」。
（備註: 本篇旨在介紹「voice」的語言學概念，而非不同語態的英文動詞字形。在「英文的特徵」部分中的文章，將對英文動詞字形作更詳細討論。）
然而，「analytic language （分析語）」（「synthetic language」的相反）則不會為了傳遞文法信息而改變字形。中文（包括廣東話）正是「analytic language 」的典型例子，因此並不會改變任何字形來呈現「voice」。
如同顯示「aspect」的做法一樣，中文會加入額外的助語詞和標記字以呈現「voice」。最常見的「passive voice」標記字便是「被」一字。例如「我被打」，就是把標記字「被」加在動詞「打」之前去顯示動詞的「passive voice」。
假如我們對「voice」的科學性概念有基本的認識，便會更容易理解各種語言顯示主動和被動語態的文法方式，從而更有效地學習外語。
例如母語為中文的人士，明白中文不像英文般要改變字形以顯示「voice」，自然會更有意識和有系統地學習那些相關的英文字形變化了。