Definition:
Causativization is the process of deriving a causative form from a base verb, adding a new causer argument — the person who makes, lets, or has someone perform the action. In English, causativization is mainly lexical (“She made him leave”) or periphrastic (“She had him leave”). In Japanese, it is morphological — the causative suffix -(s)aseru is added directly to the verb.
In-Depth Explanation
Japanese causative formation (使役形, shieki-kei):
| Verb Group | Base | Causative | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ichidan (一段) | 食べる (taberu) | 食べさせる (tabesaseru) | make/let eat |
| Godan (五段) | 行く (iku) | 行かせる (ikaseru) | make/let go |
| Godan | 読む (yomu) | 読ませる (yomaseru) | make/let read |
| Irregular | する (suru) | させる (saseru) | make/let do |
| Irregular | 来る (kuru) | 来させる (kosaseru) | make/let come |
The causative adds a new agent (the causer) and demotes the original agent:
- Active: 子供が野菜を食べた。(The child ate vegetables.)
- Causative: 母が子供に野菜を食べさせた。(The mother made the child eat vegetables.)
Ambiguity — “make” vs. “let”:
Japanese causative is ambiguous between coercive (make someone do) and permissive (let someone do):
- 先生が学生を帰らせた。
“The teacher made the students go home.” (coercive)
“The teacher let the students go home.” (permissive)
Context and the choice of particle (に vs. を for the causee) can disambiguate, but the ambiguity is inherent to the construction.
Causative-passive (使役受身形):
Japanese also stacks causative and passive morphology:
- 食べさせられた (tabesaserareta) = “was made to eat”
- This is one of the longest and most complex verb forms in Japanese and a notorious challenge for learners.
Transitive/intransitive verb pairs:
Japanese also has lexical causativization through transitive/intransitive pairs that encode a causative relationship without the -(s)aseru suffix:
- 壊れる (kowareru, to break [intransitive]) → 壊す (kowasu, to break [transitive/causative])
- 開く (aku, to open [intransitive]) → 開ける (akeru, to open [transitive])
These pairs represent a different kind of causativization — morphological rather than syntactic — and are a major learning project for Japanese students.
Related Terms
See Also
Research
- Shibatani, M. (1976). The grammar of causative constructions: A conspectus. In M. Shibatani (Ed.), Syntax and Semantics 6: The Grammar of Causative Constructions (pp. 1–40). Academic Press. — Foundational cross-linguistic study of causative constructions.
- Tsujimura, N. (2014). An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. — Clear coverage of Japanese morphological causative and causative-passive.