Licensing of Instrumental Case in Hindi/Urdu Causatives

Authors

  • Gillian Ramchand CASTL, Faculty of Humanities, University of Tromsø, Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/12.2230

Keywords:

Hindi, Urdu, causative, instrumental, case, licensing, passive, by-phrase, adjunct, syntax, agent, event, event structure

Abstract

In this paper, I revisit the licensing and interpretation of instrumental case-marked nominals in Hindi/Urdu causative constructions to argue against the hypothesis that the se-marked phrase corresponds to a demoted agent. Rather, I will argue that a more unified analysis of se-phrases can be achieved through an event-structural analysis, in line with the standard interpretation of other adverbials in the syntax. Since the ‘intermediate agent’ interpretation is only possible with indirect causatives in Hindi/Urdu, the event structural analysis proposed here also has implications for the direct vs. indirect causation distinction in the syntax.

Author Biography

Gillian Ramchand, CASTL, Faculty of Humanities, University of Tromsø, Norway

Professor, Department of Languages and Linguistics, and Senior Researcher, Center for Advanced Study in Theoretical Linguistics

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Published

2011-12-01

Issue

Vol. 38 (2011)

Section

Articles