Causative Namespace

Core Definition

Causative frames foreground the AGENTIVE ROLE, emphasizing the causal force that brings about events with specific results or outcomes. These frames center on how entities or events initiate, trigger, or bring about changes in the world. The causative namespace captures the semantic domain where causation itself is the primary conceptual content, where an Agent or Cause brings about a state change or result in another entity.

Theoretical foundation: Causatives encode a basic cognitive schema where one entity or event is conceptualized as the source of energy or impetus for another event or state change (Talmy's Force Dynamics, Langacker's Action Chain model).

Key characteristic: Causative frames are result-oriented and typically telic (have an inherent endpoint or goal state). The caused event or resultant state is semantically salient and often independently verifiable.

Scope Clarification

What Causative frames INCLUDE:

• Agentive causation with results: João quebrou o vaso (João broke the vase → broken vase)
• Creation events: Maria construiu uma casa (Maria built a house → existing house)
• Change-of-state causation: O calor derreteu o gelo (Heat melted the ice → liquid water)
• Physical, social, and psychological causation with outcomes

What Causative frames EXCLUDE (see other namespaces):

• Pure agentive activities without results → See Action namespace (João correu - João ran)
• Non-agentive natural phenomena → See Eventive namespace (O vento soprou - The wind blew; Choveu - It rained)
• Result-focused without agent → See Inchoative namespace (O vaso quebrou - The vase broke)
• Path-oriented motion → See Transition namespace (João foi para casa - João went home)

Subtypes based on Causation type

The causative namespace is not monolithic. We can identify several dimensions along which causative frames vary.

Direct vs. Indirect Causation

Direct Causation

The causer is in immediate physical or perceptual contact with the caused event, with no intermediate steps.

Semantic structure: CAUSE(Agent/Cause, Event) - single causal link

Examples:

• João quebrou o vaso ("João broke the vase") - direct physical contact
• O martelo quebrou o vidro ("The hammer broke the glass") - direct instrumental causation
• João empurrou Maria ("João pushed Maria") - direct force application

Syntactic properties:

• Typically transitive with Agent as subject, Patient as direct object
• Causative and result encoded in single lexical verb
• No intermediate event overtly expressed

Indirect Causation

The causer triggers a chain of events, with intermediate steps or mechanisms between cause and effect.

Semantic structure: CAUSE(Agent/Cause, Event₁) ∧ CAUSE(Event₁, Event₂) - causal chain

Examples:

• João fez Maria sair ("João made Maria leave") - João's action causes Maria's departure (two events)
• O terremoto causou o colapso do prédio ("The earthquake caused the building's collapse") - natural force triggers structural failure
• A política levou ao desemprego ("The policy led to unemployment") - abstract causation with temporal/logical gap

Syntactic properties:

• Often requires causative periphrasis: fazer com que, causar, provocar, levar a
• Two-event structure: causing event and caused event
• Intermediate mechanisms may or may not be specified

Diagnostic test

DIRECT: Can be paraphrased with single-clause structure
✓ João quebrou o vaso
✗ ?João fez o vaso quebrar (marked, suggests indirect/accidental)

INDIRECT: Requires or strongly prefers two-clause structure  
✗ ?A política desempregou os trabalhadores (ungrammatical/not lexicalized)
✓ A política causou o desemprego dos trabalhadores

Intentional vs. Accidental Causation

This dimension distinguishes Agent from Cause - the fundamental split in your event structure.

Intentional causation (Agent-driven)

Semantic features: [+intentional, +volitional, +control, +sentient]

Examples:

• João matou Pedro ("João killed Pedro") - deliberate action
• Maria construiu uma casa ("Maria built a house") - purposeful creation
• O governo implementou a reforma ("The government implemented the reform") - institutional agency

Cognitive status: The Agent is construed as having:

1. Mental representation of desired outcome (goal/intention)
2. Volitional control over their actions
3. Responsibility/accountability for the result

Linguistic consequences:

• Compatible with purpose clauses: João quebrou o vaso para irritar Maria
• Compatible with manner adverbs of intentionality: deliberadamente, intencionalmente, de propósito
• Can take imperatives: Quebre o vaso!
• Can be questioned with por que (why/reason): Por que você quebrou o vaso?

Accidental causation (still Agent)

An interesting intermediate case: sentient entity causes event but without intention.

Semantic features: [+sentient, +volitional_action, -intended_result]

Examples:

• João quebrou o vaso sem querer ("João broke the vase accidentally")
• Maria matou Pedro acidentalmente ("Maria killed Pedro accidentally")

Key insight: Portuguese uses the same verb forms but requires explicit markers (sem querer, acidentalmente, por acidente) to cancel the intentionality implicature.

Non-intentional causation (Cause-driven)

Semantic features: [-intentional, -volitional, ±sentient]

Examples (primarily abstract/non-physical causes):

• O erro causou o acidente ("The mistake caused the accident") - abstract cause
• A doença matou milhares ("The disease killed thousands") - biological process
• O medo paralisou João ("Fear paralyzed João") - psychological cause
• A inflação aumentou os preços ("Inflation increased prices") - economic cause

Note on natural forces: Non-agentive natural phenomena (wind, rain, earthquakes) are now classified in the Eventive namespace rather than Causative, even when they cause results. This maintains clearer boundaries:

• O vento quebrou a janela → Eventive (natural force)
• O terremoto destruiu a cidade → Eventive (natural event)
• Focus here is on abstract or biological causes that are not natural environmental phenomena.

Cognitive status: The Cause is construed as:

1. Lacking mental states (no intentions, desires, goals)
2. Operating through physical/natural laws or abstract relationships
3. Not morally/legally responsible (though can be involved in causal responsibility)

Linguistic consequences:

• Incompatible with purpose clauses: ✗ O erro causou o acidente para irritar alguém
• Incompatible with intentionality adverbs: ✗ A doença matou deliberadamente
• Cannot take imperatives: ✗ Erro, cause o acidente!
• Question with como (how/mechanism) not por que (why/reason): Como o erro causou o acidente?

The Agent-Cause gradient

Not all cases are clear-cut. Consider:

• Institutional agents: O governo aumentou os impostos

  • Collective intentionality but distributed agency

• Animals: O cachorro quebrou o vaso

  • Sentient but degree of intentionality unclear

• Automated systems: O algoritmo aprovou o empréstimo

  • Designed purpose but no subjective intentionality

Physical vs. Social/Psychological Causation

Physical causation

Cause operates through physical mechanisms (force, energy, contact).

Examples:

• O martelo achatou o metal ("The hammer flattened the metal")
• O calor derreteu o gelo ("The heat melted the ice")
• A explosão destruiu o prédio ("The explosion destroyed the building")

Domain: Physical objects, forces, energies Mechanism: Force dynamics, energy transfer Result: Physical state changes

Social causation

Cause operates through social relationships, power structures, obligations.

Examples:

• O juiz condenou o réu ("The judge convicted the defendant")
• O chefe demitiu o funcionário ("The boss fired the employee")
• O parlamento aprovou a lei ("Parliament approved the law")

Domain: Social institutions, legal/political systems Mechanism: Social norms, institutional authority, legal force Result: Changes in social/legal status

Key feature: Requires social frameworks - causation depends on conventional systems (law, organizations, norms) not just physical mechanisms.

Psychological causation

Cause operates through mental/emotional influence.

Examples:

• Maria convenceu João a sair ("Maria convinced João to leave")
• O filme emocionou a plateia ("The film moved the audience")
• A notícia assustou as crianças ("The news scared the children")

Domain: Mental states, emotions, beliefs Mechanism: Persuasion, emotional influence, information transfer Result: Changes in psychological states or belief-induced actions

Special property: Often involves stimulus-experiencer structure that overlaps with Experiential namespace (see your Experiencer discussion in event structure).

Diagnostic

• Physical: ✓ Operates without conscious participants
• Social: ✗ Requires social framework/institutions
• Psychological: ✗ Requires conscious experiencer

Semantic Decomposition of Causative Frames

Following Pustejovsky's event structure and Dowty's decompositional semantics:

Basic Causative Structure

General template:

CAUSE(x, BECOME(State(y)))
where:
  x = Agent/Cause (AGENTIVE quale)
  y = Patient (TELIC quale - endpoint/affected)
  State = resultant condition (FORMAL quale)

Example: João quebrou o vaso

CAUSE(João, BECOME(broken(vaso)))
  Agent: João [+intentional, +volitional]
  Event: BECOME(broken(vaso))
  Patient: vaso
  Result_state: broken

Accomplishment Causatives (with process)

Some causatives include an explicit process component:

Template:

CAUSE(x, [PROCESS(y) & BECOME(State(y))])

Example: João construiu uma casa

CAUSE(João, [BUILD_PROCESS(casa) & BECOME(exists(casa))])
  Agent: João
  Process: incremental building activity
  Theme/Patient: casa (incremental theme - comes into existence gradually)
  Result: existence of complete house

Key property: Incremental theme - the Patient comes into being or undergoes change incrementally as the event progresses (Dowty, Krifka).

Diagnostic: Compatible with durative temporal expressions

• ✓ João construiu a casa em três meses (in three months - completed)
• ✓ João construiu a casa por três meses (for three months - process)

Achievement Causatives (punctual)

Other causatives are conceptualized as instantaneous:

Template:

CAUSE(x, BECOME(State(y))) [punctual]

Example: João quebrou o vaso

CAUSE(João, BECOME(broken(vaso))) [at instant t]
  Agent: João  
  Patient: vaso
  Result: instantaneous transition to broken state

Diagnostic: Incompatible with progressive without coercion

• ✗ João está quebrando o vaso (requires iterative or slow-motion coercion)
• ✓ João quebrou o vaso em um segundo (at/in point of time)

Complex Causative Chains

Indirect causative template:

CAUSE(x, Event₁) & CAUSE(Event₁, Event₂) & ... & RESULT(Eventₙ)

Example: A chuva causou o deslizamento que destruiu as casas

CAUSE(rain, landslide) & CAUSE(landslide, DESTROY(houses))
  Initial_cause: rain
  Intermediate_event: landslide  
  Final_result: destruction of houses

Relation to Qualia Structure

Causative frames centrally involve AGENTIVE quale but recruit elements from all qualia:

Qualia	Role in Causative	Example element
AGENTIVE	Core - causer	Agent, Cause
TELIC	Result/affected entity	Patient, Goal
CONSTITUTIVE	Means/instruments	Instrument, Means
FORMAL	Resultant state	Result, End_state

Example: João cortou o pão com a faca

• AGENTIVE: João (agent)
• TELIC: pão (patient/affected)
• CONSTITUTIVE: faca (instrument)
• FORMAL: pão cortado (result state)

Diagnostic Tests for Causative Frames

Periphrastic Causative Test

Test: Can the frame be paraphrased with fazer com que or causar + subordinate clause?

Positive result = Causative frame

✓ João quebrou o vaso → João fez com que o vaso quebrasse
✓ Maria matou Pedro → Maria fez com que Pedro morresse  
✓ O governo aprovou a lei → O governo fez com que a lei fosse aprovada

False positives: Some non-causative frames can be coerced:

? João viu Maria → ?João fez com que visse Maria (coercion to intentional perception)

Strength: Good for identifying core causative semantics

Causative Alternation Test

Test: Does the frame participate in the causative-inchoative alternation?

Transitive (causative): X quebrou Y (X caused Y to break) Intransitive (inchoative): Y quebrou (Y broke)

✓ João abriu a porta ↔ A porta abriu
✓ Maria derreteu o gelo ↔ O gelo derreteu
✓ O vento quebrou a janela ↔ A janela quebrou

Non-alternating causatives (no intransitive):

✓ João construiu a casa ↔ ✗ *A casa construiu
✓ Maria criou o projeto ↔ ✗ *O projeto criou

Insight: Creation verbs (criar, construir, fabricar) don't alternate because the Patient doesn't exist independently - it comes into being through the Agent's action.

Strength: Identifies change-of-state causatives specifically

Instrument/Means Test

Test: Can the frame take instrumental phrases with com or usando?

✓ João quebrou o vaso com o martelo
✓ Maria cortou o pão com a faca
✓ O governo implementou a reforma usando novos métodos

Positive result = Likely causative with Agent (instruments require intentional users)

Negative cases:

✗ *O vento quebrou a janela com velocidade alta (velocidade is not instrument)
✓ O vento quebrou a janela por causa da velocidade alta (manner/reason, not instrument)

Strength: Distinguishes Agent-causatives from Cause-causatives

Passivization Test

Test: Can the frame passivize naturally?

ACTIVE: João quebrou o vaso
PASSIVE: O vaso foi quebrado (por João)

ACTIVE: Maria construiu a casa  
PASSIVE: A casa foi construída (por Maria)

Positive result = Transitive causative structure

Complication: Not all causatives passivize equally well

✓ João matou Pedro → Pedro foi morto por João (good)
? João criou o problema → O problema foi criado por João (acceptable)
✗ *Isso custa dez reais → *Dez reais são custados por isso (ungrammatical)

Strength: Confirms Patient role and transitive structure

Intentionality Tests

Test A - Purpose clauses: Can add para + infinitive (in order to)?

✓ João quebrou o vaso para irritar Maria (Agent - intentional)
✗ *O vento quebrou a janela para irritar Maria (Cause - non-intentional)

Test B - Manner of intentionality: Can add deliberadamente, intencionalmente, de propósito?

✓ João quebrou o vaso deliberadamente (Agent)
✗ *O vento quebrou a janela deliberadamente (Cause)

Test C - Imperatives: Can the verb take imperative form meaningfully?

✓ Quebre o vaso! (Agent possible)
✗ *Vento, quebre a janela! (Cause impossible)

Strength: Distinguishes Agent from Cause

Result State Test

Test: Does the frame entail a specific result state that can be independently verified?

João quebrou o vaso → O vaso está quebrado
Maria abriu a porta → A porta está aberta  
O fogo derreteu o gelo → O gelo está derretido

Positive result = Causative with resultant state component

Non-result causatives:

João empurrou Maria → ? Maria está empurrada (no clear result state)
O vento balançou a árvore → ? A árvore está balançada (activity, not result)

Strength: Identifies accomplishment/achievement causatives vs. pure activity causatives

Summary Table: Causative Subtypes

Dimension	Type	Features	Example	Test
Directness	Direct	Single causal link	quebrar, matar	Single lexical verb
	Indirect	Causal chain	causar, fazer com que	Requires periphrasis
Intentionality	Agent	+intentional, +volitional	construir, matar	Purpose clauses ✓
	Cause (abstract)	-intentional	erro causar, doença matar	Purpose clauses ✗
Domain	Physical	Physical mechanism	quebrar, derreter	Physical objects
	Social	Social framework	demitir, aprovar	Institutional context
	Psychological	Mental influence	convencer, assustar	Mental state change
Aspect	Achievement	Punctual result	quebrar, explodir	Incompatible with progressive
	Accomplishment	Durative process	construir, pintar	Compatible with durative PP

Boundary Cases and Namespace Distinctions

The Causative namespace has important boundaries with other namespaces, particularly the new Action namespace and the Eventive namespace.

Causative vs. Action

Core distinction: Result-orientation (telicity)

Causative (Result-oriented, telic):

João quebrou o vaso (João broke the vase)
- Agent: João
- Result: vaso quebrado (broken vase)
- Telic: has inherent endpoint (broken state)
- Semantic decomposition: CAUSE(João, BECOME(broken(vaso)))

Action (Process-oriented, atelic):

João correu (João ran)
- Agent: João
- Activity: running
- Atelic: no inherent endpoint
- Semantic decomposition: ACT(João, run)

Diagnostic distinction:

Test 1: Result State

• Causative: Can verify result independently
  • João quebrou o vaso → ✓ O vaso está quebrado (vase is broken)
• Action: No verifiable result state
  • João correu → ✗ João está corrido (nonsensical)

Test 2: Telicity ("em X tempo" vs. "por X tempo")

• Causative: Compatible with "em X tempo" (bounded)
  • ✓ João quebrou o vaso em um segundo
• Action: Compatible with "por X tempo" (unbounded)
  • ✓ João correu por uma hora

Test 3: Periphrastic Causative

• Causative: Can paraphrase with fazer com que
  • ✓ João quebrou o vaso → João fez com que o vaso quebrasse
• Action: Periphrastic causative is odd/changes meaning
  • ? João correu → João fez com que corresse (coercion needed)

Ambiguous cases (can be read both ways):

João empurrou Maria (João pushed Maria)

• Causative reading: Pushing caused Maria to move/fall (result-focus)
  • Result: Maria displaced or fell
• Action reading: João performed pushing activity (process-focus)
  • Focus: activity of pushing itself

Classification guideline:

• If a clear result state can be verified → Causative
• If focus is on activity without clear result → Action
• If both readings are equally accessible → tag as both or context-dependent

Causative vs. Eventive

Core distinction: Agency/Causation vs. Pure Occurrence

Causative (Agentive causation):

João quebrou a janela (João broke the window)
- Intentional agent performs causative action
- Agent-Patient structure

Eventive (Natural phenomenon):

O vento soprou (The wind blew)
Choveu (It rained)
- No intentional agent
- Event-centric, minimal participant structure
- Natural forces and processes

Note on non-agentive causes: Historically, non-agentive natural forces in causative structures (O vento quebrou a janela - The wind broke the window) were classified in Causative namespace. However, for greater theoretical clarity, non-agentive natural phenomena (wind, rain, earthquakes) are now classified in the Eventive namespace, even when they cause results. This separates:

• Agentive causation (sentient entities causing changes) → Causative
• Natural processes (non-agentive forces and phenomena) → Eventive

Causative vs. Inchoative

Core distinction: Profiled participant

Causative (Agent/Cause profiled):

João quebrou o vaso (João broke the vase)
- Focus: João (causer)
- Agent in subject position
- CAUSE(João, BECOME(broken(vaso)))

Inchoative (Theme/Patient profiled):

O vaso quebrou (The vase broke)
- Focus: vaso (affected entity)
- Theme in subject position
- BECOME(broken(vaso))

The Causative-Inchoative Alternation: Many verbs participate in this alternation:

Causative (transitive): João quebrou o vaso
Inchoative (intransitive): O vaso quebrou

This alternation is a fundamental property linking the two namespaces - they describe the same type of event from different perspectives (causer vs. affected entity).