This paper examines problems with description of the canonical passive construction, noting how new terminology facilitates consideration of a particular approach to frequency asymmetry. It compares the canonical passive construction in Arabic and English as examples of genetically unrelated languages, referring to other languages where appropriate. By generalizing across several versions of the derivational system of Universal Grammar, it traces a possible theoretical description of this construction. In light of the most recent incarnation of the P&P model, the paper reconsiders the entire terminological apparatus, accounting for all natural instances of the construction in terms of the syntactic behavior of the internal arguments that the main lexical verb has the potential to combine with. The approach to frequency asymmetry is identified with functional convergence and divergence between Arabic and English in the canonical passive construction from all possible angles, noting that, despite this frequency asymmetry, the two sorts of internalized knowledge of the canonical passive construction are symmetrically balanced in the minds of native speakers of English and Arabic. The paper discusses the problem of learnabilty within the natural order of the canonical passive construction in the process of L1 acquisition, suggesting a logical order of teachability in respect to the same construction in the process of L2 acquisition. (Contains 114 references.) (SM)