Resumen

CUERVO, MARIA CRISTINA. THE CAUSATIVE ALTERNATION AND ITS INTERACTION WITH DATIVE ARGUMENTS. RLA [online]. 2008, vol.46, n.1, pp. 55-79. ISSN 0718-4883.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-48832008000100004.

This paper focuses on the causative alternation and its compatibility with various types of dative arguments. I develop a novel constructivist analysis of the alternation, by which both the transitive causative and the unaccusative inchoative variants (Pablo broke the radio; The radio broke) are equally complex bi-eventive constructions. The resulting state (the broken radió) is shared by the two configurations while the higher sub-event distinguishes between the two. I argue that there exist two kinds of transitive predicates (causative and simple -non-causative) and two kinds of unaccusatives (inchoative and simple) which take part in distinct syntactic structures and, therefore, have different semantics. The proposal is able to account for systematic syntactic and semantic differences among dative arguments in simple transitive and unaccusative constructions, on the one hand, and causative and inchoative, on the other. The interaction between these two proposals sheds light on the relationship between syntax and semantics.

Palabras llave : Causatives; inchoatives; transitivity; dative; applicative; argument structure; Spanish.