project Epsilon: Causatives

Original version cross-posted to the CONLANG list

The causative suffix increments the verb's valence. The new argument is the agent of causation. The causative may be added to intransitives of either type and to monotransitives. The (direct) object, which isn't marked for case, is unchanged, while the subject becomes marked as indirect object.

First, note that I'm using the terms voluntary and involuntary loosely; I'm not sure what the exact semantic factor is yet.

Originally Involuntary Intransitives

When the reflexive prefix is added to the causatives of these, the remaining argument denotes a voluntary subject.

Noun  IVerb  ==>  Noun-DR  Rfx-IVerb-Caus

Originally Voluntary Intransitives

The causatives of these can be made involuntary by marking the agent of causation as unspecified; this probably requires an inverse subject.

Noun-DR  VVerb  ==>  Noun-IR  Uns-VVerb-Caus

Originally Monotransitive

The inversion of original subject and object is no longer available, since the inverse is needed for inversion of causative agent and original agent. Likewise, the original reflexive is no longer available. Probably, the causative isn't used much with transitives.