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Causative Alternation - Introduction Section

Causative alternation is a cross-linguistic phenomenon in which certain verbs can be used both intransitively and transitively, where the transitive use of the verb can be restated as the cause of the intransitive use of the verb.

1. An example of the causative alternation with the English verb 'break': (a) Intransitive Use: The vase broke. (b) Transitive Use: The girl broke the vase.

The verb 'break' is a causatively alternating verb because it can be used intransitively and transitively. Further, the transitive phrase 'The girl broke the vase' indicates the cause of the intransitive phrase 'The vase broke.' In other words, it was the girl that caused the vase to break. The fact that 'the vase', which is the subject of the phrase in (a) and the object of the phrase in (b), has the same semantic connection with the verb in both phrases is an important property of the causative alternation.

2. An example of a non-causatively alternating verb using the English verb 'cut': (a) Ungrammatical Intransitive Use: *The cake cut. (b) Transitive Use: Mary cut the cake.

The verb 'cut' is not an example of the causative alternation because it needs to be used transitively in order for it to make grammatical sense in English; the verb cannot be used intransitively.

When causatively alternating verbs are used intransitively, they can be called anticausatives or inchoatives. Alternately, when causatively alternating verbs are used transitively, they can be called causatives.