Editing Causative (section)

====One word====
{{Main|Causative alternation}}
Some languages, including English, have [[ambitransitive verb]]s like ''break'', ''burn'' or ''awake'', which may either be [[intransitive verb|intransitive]] or [[Transitive verb|transitive]] ("The vase broke" vs. "I broke the vase.")

These are split into two varieties: [[Ambitransitive verb#Agentive and patientive|agentive and patientive]] ambitransitives. Agentive ambitransitives (also called S=A ambitransitives) include verbs such as ''walk'' and ''knit'' because the S of the intransitive corresponds to the A of the transitive. For example:

:(1a) ''Mary'' (S) ''is knitting.''

:(1b) ''Mary'' (A) ''is knitting a scarf'' (O).

This type of ambitransitive does ''not'' show a causative relationship.

For patientive ambitransitives (also called S=O ambitransitives), such as ''trip'' and ''spill'', the S of the intransitive corresponds to the O of the transitive:

:(2a) ''The milk '' (S) ''spilled.''

:(2b) ''Jim'' (A) ''spilled the milk'' (O).

These are further divided into two more types, based on speakers' intuition. Some, like ''spill'' in (2), are primarily transitive and secondarily intransitive. Other verbs like this include ''smash'' and ''extend.'' Other verbs, such as ''trip'' in (3) go the other way: they are primarily intransitive and secondarily transitive.

:(3a) ''John'' (S) ''tripped.''

:(3b) ''Mary'' (A) ''tripped John'' (O).

Other examples of this type include ''explode'', ''melt'', ''dissolve'', ''walk'', and ''march''. It is this type of ambitransitive verb that is considered a causative.<ref name=Dixon/>{{rp|38}} This is given some anecdotal evidence in that to translate (3b) above into languages with morphological causatives, a morpheme would need to be attached to the verb.

Lexical causatives are apparently constrained to involving only one agentive argument. Semantically, the causer is usually marked as the patient. In fact, it is unlikely whether any language has a lexical causative for verbs such as ''swim'', ''sing'', ''read'', or ''kick''.<ref name=Shibatani/>{{rp|3}}