The Goal of This Research Is to Study the Expression of Causativity in the Estonian And

Correspondences between the semantical subgroups of Estonian analytic causative verb-phrases and the nature of the two different infinitive types in causative constructions

Krisztina Korencsi, ELTE, Budapest

The goal of the present research is to study the expression of causativity in general and the realization of this phenomenon in the Estonian and Hungarian languages. More specifically, the aim of my presentation is to compare and analyse the analytic causative constructions in Estonian and in Hungarian. I focus on the correspondences between the features of semantic subgroups of causativity and the verb chain of analytic causatives in Estonian.

The paper focuses on the analytic causative structures in Estonian containing grammaticalized finite verbs panema, ajama and laskma and their lexical-grammatical environment in the sentences, with special regard to respective infinitive forms.I compare the Hungarian and Estonian causative equivalents and their level of grammaticalization. I attempt to clarifythe border of different causative situations in Estonian, expressed analytically, and the nature or characteristics of the lexical-semantical causative subgroups in general as well.

I will show that on the basis of the formof the infinitive, a degree of grammaticalization may be established. A comparison could help define the types of causativity and let us see more clearly where the borders of the different lexical-semantic subgroups (causing, letting and permitting causatives) of causatives are.

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