Nominal causal constructions: Causal chains and syncretism

Abstract

Nominal causal constructions can involve dedicated markers (we arrived late because of John) or syncretic markers that can also convey concrete meanings, such as source (die from alcohol), goal, path, instrument/comitative, etc. So far, these patterns of syncretism have been systematically analyzed only for a few European languages. Based on a grammar survey of a world-wide variety sample of 65 languages, I assembled an annotated dataset of 113 nominal causal constructions. My goal was to explore whether patterns of syncretism correlate with specific types of causal meanings. The dataset provides evidence showing that such correlation does exist. In particular, syncretic markers that normally denote instruments or locations favour contexts where the caused event is simultaneous with the causing event (tremble with fear), while syncretic markers that normally denote endoints of motion favour contexts where the causing event is associated with future-oriented components in the causal chain. Overall, nominal causes tend to be construed in terms of simpler cognitive schemas, and the use of respective markers iconically reflects the structure of the relevant causal chains. By contrast, dedicated causal markers favour the meaning of indirect causation that involves speaker’s subjective reasoning. Typologically, dedicated markers are less frequent than syncretic markers. In individual languages, they are often of secondary origin and diachronically unstable. Thus, typologically and cognitively, dedicated causal markers are peripheral for the causal semantic domain, despite the fact that they are important for the European logic-oriented linguistic tradition.