Middles in the syntax

It is well-known that while some languages mark middles and passives similarly, some others mark them differently. Researchers opine that this difference may ensue from the loci of middle generation; they can be generated either in the lexicon or in the syntax. I present some problems with the two-modular approach and propose a syntactic analysis for all middles, with the differences emanating from the choice of the non-active voice head. Languages like Hindi-Urdu which choose a middle non-active voice head fail to project a higher aspectual head hosting an external argument. The truncated structure makes the middles different from passives, in both morphological form and syntactic behavior.