Universal #1583

Legacy number: 1583

 Number  1579
 Original  If there are causative affixes in a language which serve to form causative verbs from transitives, then this language also has causative affixes which serve to form causative verbs from intransitives.
 Standardized  IF there are causative affixes which serve to form causative verbs from transitives, THEN there will be causative affixes which serve to form causative verbs from intransitives.
 Keywords  causative, transitivity
 Domain  morphology, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  languages mentioned in Nedjalkov & Sil’nickij 1969, Nedjalkov & Sil’nickij 1973
 Source  Nedjalkov & Sil’nickij 1969: 26, Nedjalkov & Sil’nickij 1973: 8

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Discussion
Notes
The reverse assertion does not hold. There are languages in which, with certain exceptions, causative affixes only apply to intransitive verbs: Arabic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic), Blackfoot (Algonquian), Gothic (Germanic), Indonesian (Malay-Polynesian), Estonian (Finnic, Uralic), Klamath (Klamath-Modoc (=Lutuanian)), Coos (Coosan), Takelma (isolate), and others. It seems that there is no language in which causative affixes are attached only to transitives (Nedjalkov & Sil’nickij 1969: 25-26, 1973: 7).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
The reverse assertion does not hold. There are languages in which, with certain exceptions, causative affixes only apply to intransitive verbs: Arabic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic), Blackfoot (Algonquian), Gothic (Germanic), Indonesian (Malay-Polynesian), Estonian (Finnic, Uralic), Klamath (Klamath-Modoc (=Lutuanian)), Coos (Coosan), Takelma (isolate), and others. It seems that there is no language in which causative affixes are attached only to transitives (Nedjalkov & Sil'nickij 1969: 25-26, Nedjalkov & Sil'nickij 1973: 7).