ABSTRACT
The causative construction generally represents a linguistic expression which denotes a complex macro-situation consisting of two micro-situations or component events (cf. Nedjalkov and Silnitsky 1973: 1, Comrie 1989: 165–6): (i) the causing event in which the causer does or initiates something in order to bring about a different event (i.e. the caused event), and (ii) the caused event in which the causee carries out an action or undergoes a change of condition or state as a result of the causer’s action. The following English sentence thus denotes a causative situation, for instance.
Elizabeth made the chef eat the leftovers.
