Causative Constructions in Kùcé: A Minimalist Perspective

Abstract

This study is a descriptive as well as theoretical study of causative constructions in Kùcé. As reported in other languages, causative construction plays a significant role in the syntax and semantics of Kùcé. However, the study of causative constructions in the language is grossly under-reported in the literature. This paper therefore investigates causative constructions in relation to their meanings and structures in the grammar of Kùcé by providing a descriptive as well as theoretical analysis of their syntax. Data for the study were sourced from native speakers of Kùcé with the use of researcher-designed wordlist and unstructured oral interview. The study recognizes tī ‘cause/make’ as the causative verb in Kùcé which c-selects AgrP as complement. It argues that causativization in Kùcé is syntactic as it only makes use of the causative verb, a distinct syntactic unit, which derives complex sentences from basic sentences without the morphological process of incorporation. The derivation is bi-clausal regardless of the different categories of elements in the construction. The Minimalist Program employed in this study provides a theoretical account for the causative verb and its complement via a series of merger operations.