Causative verbs in -ificar: morphosyntactic and semantic characterization

Abstract

In this article we categorize Spanish -ificar verbs in terms of morphological, syntactic, semantic and causative parameters. We also point out that these lexemes have causative value whose categorical differences depend on the result of the event: concrete vs. abstract. Likewise, in my proposal called “causative continuum of verbs in -ificar” we show that, prototypically, constructions with verbs in -ificar are transitive causative clauses of concrete state change in which the causer is an agentive subject, with full involvement and high directivity while the caused is a patientive direct object, with attenuated control and high affectivity.