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The Agent and the Patient: How Transitivity Shapes Blame and Responsibility
Who broke the window? The choice between saying “The boy broke the window” and “The window broke” is more than just grammar. This linguistic feature, known as transitivity, profoundly shapes how we assign blame, recall events, and even judge guilt in a court of law. How our language structures agency has powerful, real-world consequences for everything from eyewitness testimony to news headlines.
