Chapter 29 Causative constructions

2021 ◽  
pp. 426-438
Keyword(s):  
Causative Constructions

Isoglosses and language change: Evidence of the rise and loss of isoglosses from a comparison of early Greek and early English

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-575
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Lavidas
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Considerable Distance ◽  
Causative Constructions ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Structural Ambiguity ◽  
Early English ◽  
Aspectual Verbs

Abstract We analyze the rise and loss of isoglosses in two Indo-European languages, early Greek and early English, which, however, show considerable distance between their structures in many other domains. We follow Keidan’s approach (2013), that has drawn the attention on the fact that the study of isoglosses (i.e., linguistic features common to two or more languages) is connected with common innovations of particular languages after the split into sub-groups of Indo-European: this type of approach aims at collecting isoglosses that appear across the branches of Indo-European. We examine the rise of the isogloss of labile verbs and the loss of the isogloss of the two classes of aspectual verbs in early Greek and early English. Our study shows that the rise of labile verbs in both languages is related to the innovative use of intransitives in causative constructions. On the other hand, the innovations in voice morphology follow different directions in Greek and English and are unrelated to the rise of labile verbs. In contrast to labile verbs, which are still predominant for causative-anticausative constructions in both languages, the two classes of aspectual verbs are lost in the later stages of Greek but are predominant even in Present-day English. Again, a “prerequisite” change for the isogloss can be easily located in a structural ambiguity that is relevant for aspectual verbs in early Greek and early English. However, another independent development, the changes in verbal complementation (the development of infinitival and participial complements) in Greek and English, determined the loss of this isogloss.

scholarly journals Investigating Indonesian EFL learners’ knowledge and use of English causative constructions

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wijaya ◽  
Evelyn Winstin
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Causative Constructions ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Improve Instruction ◽  
Causative Construction

Abstract This paper explored Indonesian EFL learners’ explicit knowledge, processing, and use of English periphrastic causative constructions make, have, and get. 20 English L1 speakers and 20 Indonesian intermediate level EFL learners majoring in English Language Education at an Indonesian university took part in this study. Data were collected through a cloze task, a sentence completion task, an interpretation task, and a set of open-ended questions asking learners to provide descriptions about their knowledge of the constructions. Results showed that learners did not always use the first noun strategy to identify the agent in a passive causative construction. Also, their suppliances of the causative verbs in most items did not significantly differ from L1 speakers. However, the syntactic patterns were mostly non-target-like. They demonstrated insufficient explicit knowledge that could enable them to verbalize the formal and functional aspects underlying the constructions. Pedagogical implications along with suggestions to improve instruction are discussed.

Argument structure licensing and Englishhave

2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
KYUMIN KIM
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Causative Constructions ◽  
Theoretical Claim ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Typological Classification

This paper provides a unified syntactic account of the distribution of Englishhavein causative constructions (e.g.John had Mary read a book) and experiencer constructions (e.g.John had the student walk out of his classroom). It is argued thathaveis realized in the context of anapplicative head(Appl) and an event-introducer v, regardless of the type of v.Haveis spelled out in the causative when Appl merges under vCAUSE, and in the experiencer construction when Appl merges under vBE. This proposal is extended tohavein possessive constructions (e.g.John has a hat/a brother):haveis realized in the context of vBEand Appl. The proposed account provides empirical evidence for expanding the distribution of Appl: (i) a causative can take ApplP as a complement, which was absent in Pylkkänen's (2008) typological classification, and (ii) Appl can merge above Voice, contrary to Pylkkänen's analysis in which Appl is argued to always merge below VoiceP, never above. Moreover, the proposed account supports the theoretical claim that argument structure is licensed by functional syntactic structure; in particular, it shows that the relevant functional heads are not aspectual heads, but Appl and v.

scholarly journals DESCRIPTIVE VERBAL-NOMINAL CONSTRUCTIONS WITH CAUSATIVE SEMANTICS IN MODERN RUSSIAN

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 83-88
Author(s):  
Evgenia N. Laguzova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Language ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Formal Expression ◽  
Causative Constructions ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Modern Russian

The article discusses descriptive verbal-nominal constructions with causative verbal components. The relevance of the study is due to the attention of modern linguistics to the problem of analyticism in the Russian language grammar, the lack of study of the structural and semantic features of analytical constructions with causatives. The novelty of the work consists in identifying the features of the semantic structure of sentences with causative verbal components. A feature of causative DVNC is recognized as dismembered semantics. Two varieties of causative constructions formed by descriptive verbal-nominal constructions are distinguished – sentences with arbitrary and automatic causation. The description of statements draws attention to the main semantic components – causative and causable subjects, methods of their formal expression. Differences in the semantic structure of sentences with spontaneous and automatic causation are shown. The purposefulness of causative action in sentences with spontaneous causation and indirectness of influence in sentences with automatic causation are due to the semantic features of the main components of causative statements with DVNC – the causative and causable subject. Constructions with spontaneous causation form polysubject monopropositive, DVNC with automatic causation form polysubject polypropositive structures. The peculiarity of the semantic structure of additional statements of DVNC unpretentious forms – participal – with causative semantics was noted. In sentences with DVNC unpretentious forms, the incentive is mitigated. Additional statements with DVNC form polypropositive constructions. The development of verbal-nominal constructions with causatives is associated with a tendency to analyticism, characteristic of the modern Russian language grammar. The materials of the article will be used in lexicographic practice – when compiling a dictionary of descriptive verbal-nominal constructions, in teaching special courses on the problem of nomination.

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