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VILNIUS PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY
RENATA OLEŠKEVIČ
THE EXPRESSION OF CAUSATION IN OSCAR WILDE`S
NOVEL “THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY”
MA Paper
Academic Advisor: Prof. Laimutis Valeika
Vilnius, 2006
CONTENTS
Abstract
3
Introduction
4
1. Causative processes and their realisation in English
7
2. The formal parameters of causation
8
2.1 The morphological mechanism
8
2.1.1 The use of suffixes in the formation of causative verbs
9
2.1.2 The use of prefixes in the formation of causative verbs
9
2.1.3 The formation of causative verbs by means of vowel change
9
2.1.4 The formation of causative verbs by means of conversion
9
2.2 The lexical mechanism
10
2.2.1 The classification of lexical causative verbs
10
2.2.2 The ergative transformation
11
2.3 The syntactic mechanism
13
2.3.1 The classification of syntactic causative verbs
13
2.3.2 The syntactic and semantic features of syntactic causative verbs
17
2.4 Connectives used to mark causation at the sentence level
20
2.4.1 Subordinating conjunctions
20
2.4.2 Coordinating conjunctions
23
2.4.3 Correlative conjunctions and modifiers
23
2.4.4 Conjunctive adverbs
24
2.4.5 Prepositional phrases
25
2.4.6 Prepositions
25
2.5 The role of connectives in expressing causation at the text level
3. The expression of causation in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde
3.1 The morphological mechanism
26
29
29
3.1.1 Affixation
29
3.1.2 Vowel change
30
3.1.3 Conversion
31
3.2 The lexical mechanism
32
3.2.1 Verbs of the change of state
32
3.3.2 Verbs of the change of location
34
3.3.3 Verbs of light and sound emission
35
1
3.2.4 Stimulus- experiencer verbs
37
3.2.5 Verbs of creation
38
3.2.6 The suppletive pairs of lexical causative verbs
39
3.3 The syntactic mechanism
41
3.3.1 Causative verbs followed by a nominalized direct object
41
3.3.2 Causative verbs followed by a resulting attribute
42
3.3.3 Causative verbs followed by a complex object
42
3.4 The role of connectives in expressing causation at the sentence level
47
3.4.1 Subordinating conjunctions
47
3.4.2 Coordinating conjunctions
52
3.4.3 Correlative conjunctions and modifiers
53
3.4.4 Conjunctive adverbs
53
3.4.5 Prepositional and conjunctive phrases
53
3.4.6 Prepositions
54
3.5 The role of connectives in expressing causation at the text level
57
3.5.1 Subordinating conjunctions
57
3.5.2 Coordinating conjunctions
58
3.5.3 Prepositional and conjunctive phrases
59
Conclusions
61
Summary in Lithuanian
63
References
64
Appendices
66
2
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to explore the realisation of causation at the sentence and text
level. The analysis of causative constructions was carried out on the basis of the evidence drawn
from the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. The methods chosen for the study
were the description-inductive method and the method of statistical analysis. The research
demonstrated that the author of the novel employs a variety of expressions to realize causation.
They include causative expressions formed by morphological, lexical and syntactic means. The
study also demonstrated that lexical means have the highest frequency of occurrence.
3
INTRODUCTION
The phenomena in the world are connected by a cause and effect relationship. The causal
relations of various kinds are a pervasive feature of human language and theorizing about the
world. In many fields, including psychology and philosophy, the notion of causation has been a
research subject since the age of ancient Greek philosophy.
One of the first philosophers who started analyzing the nature of causation was Aristotle1.
He distinguished four causes (material, formal, efficient and final), which explain the existence of
certain things or phenomena in the world. According to Aristotle, the material cause is the
material that makes up an object; the formal cause is the scheme or the idea of what an object
should be; the efficient cause is the person who makes an object or God who moves nature; the
final cause is the purpose of creating or changing something.
The 19th century English philosopher Mill defined the concept of cause as “the sum total
of conditions, positive and negative, taken together and when being realized, the consequent
invariably follows”. The 20th century philosopher Russell stated that “when two events belong to
one causal line, the earlier may be said to cause the later”. The causal line, according to Russell,
is “a temporal series of events so related that, given some of them, something may be inferred
about the others”2.
One of the theories of social psychology, namely attribution theory, which was introduced
by Heider, Kelley and Jones, explores how individuals attribute causes to events and how this
cognitive perception helps to explain the behaviour of other people. According to the theory,
external attribution assigns causality to an outside agent or force whereas internal attribution
assigns it to factors within the person taking into account the person`s intelligence, personal
responsibility and accountability for one`s actions3.
Causative processes have also played a significant role in the recent history of linguistics
because they represent an important area of convergence between linguistics and such adjacent
disciplines as philosophy and cognitive anthropology which deals with human perception and
categorization of causation. Moreover, the study of causative constructions is essential for the
development of generative semantics. Causative constructions are important to linguistics mainly
because their study involves the interaction of semantics, syntax and morphology.
1
Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-process/
Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-process/
3
Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_theory
2
4
English, like other languages, provides a variety of ways of realizing causal relations.
The problem of expressing causation in English has been discussed in the writings of
many scholars. We can distinguish such linguists as Comrie (1981), Lyons (1969), Halliday
(1976), Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1985). The recent work on causation includes
articles written by Wolff and Song4, Girju and Moldovan5.
In his works Comrie analyses the formal parameters of causation which include a number
of formal mechanisms that are used to realize causal relations. Comrie`s classification of
causative constructions, according to which they were divided into morphological, lexical and
syntactic causatives, was universally accepted by the linguistic community. Comrie was also
concerned with semantic parameters which include the concepts of direct and indirect causation.
Wolff further developed the theory of direct and indirect causation and the role of syntactic and
lexical causatives in the expression of direct and indirect causation. Wolff and Song presented
their own classification of the ways of the expression of causal relations based on Talmy`s force
dynamic model of causation. According to this model, causative verbs followed by a complex
object are divided into three main groups: cause-type, enable-type and prevent-type verbs.
Furthermore, Wolff and Song, Girju and Moldovan in their works focus on the analysis of causal
connectives as it is one more way of realizing causation. Lyons analyses the process of the
ergative transformation which is connected with the derivation of causative sentences from noncausative ones and which is, for the most part, typical of lexical causatives.
The authors of literary works use different types of causal patterns while creating texts.
However, we can hypothesize that the frequency of occurrence of various kinds of causative
constructions varies. Some of them are marked by higher frequency while others are
characterized by lower frequency. Lexical causatives are considered to be more numerous in
literary works than any other kind of causal expression6.
In this study we are concerned with the expression of causation. The research problem has
professional significance as it extends existing knowledge and tests a theory. The practical
importance of the work is determined by the fact that the results of the research can be used in the
classroom while teaching learners the different ways of expressing causative relations.
4
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
Retrieved from: http://cs.baylor.edu/girju/papers/rox-AAAISpring02.ps.
6
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
5
5
The purpose of the work is to examine the way causation is realized at the sentence and
text level on the basis of the evidence drawn from the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by
Oscar Wilde. The objectives of the study are:
1) the analysis of the significance of verbal constructions in expressing causation at the sentence
level;
2) the analysis of the role of causal connectives in realizing causation at the sentence and text
level;
3) the analysis of the frequency of occurrence of different causative expressions.
The main method applied in the research is the description-inductive method. The method
of statistical analysis is used to show the frequency of the different types of causative
constructions in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde. The corpus consists of 280
pages.
6
1. Causative processes and their realisation in English
Causative processes describe a causative situation which involves two components, the
cause and its effect (result). Comrie (1981:158) gives the following example of a causative
situation: the bus fails to turn up; as a result, I am late for a meeting. In this example, according
to the scholar, the failure of the bus to turn up functions as cause, and my being late for the
meeting functions as effect. These two micro-situations form a single complex macro-situation,
that is, the causative situation. In this case, it would be possible to express the macro-situation by
combining the two clauses together, e.g. I was late for the meeting because the bus didn`t come
or The bus didn`t come, so I was late for the meeting. However, very often the expression of one
of the micro-situations, usually the cause, can be abbreviated. Comrie considers the following
example: John caused me to be late. Here the effect is clearly that I was late, but the expression
of the cause has been abbreviated, so that it is not clear what particular piece of behaviour by
John caused me to be late. In this case we may generalize our definition of cause and John in
such a sentence can be treated as an instance of cause.
The person who causes an event is called an actor in an action. The actor is usually
realised as the subject. From the semantic point of view, the animate being instigating or causing
an event is called an agent. The notion of agency is a complex one, which includes such features
as animacy, intention, motivation, responsibility and the use of one`s own energy to initiate a
process or bring about some change in the location or certain properties (Downing and Locke
1992:115). There are instances when all of these features are present, but there are examples
when one or more of these features may be absent. For instance, if we say The horse splashed us
with mud as it passed, we do not imply that the horse did so deliberately. We do not attribute
intentionality, responsibility or motivation to the horse in this situation. We might call it an
unwitting causer.
Processes can also be caused by inanimate agents which are called external causers or
“forces” which include such natural phenomena as thunder, lightning, electricity, wind, tides and
floods. Some of the psychological states like anxiety, fear or joy are also included in this group.
(Downing and Locke 1992:115)
Consider:
(1) The avalanche destroyed several houses.
(2) Hurricanes devastated the region.
(3) Anxiety has ruined your health.
7
Moreover, instruments can be treated as the causers of certain events.
For example:
(1) The key opened the door.
(2) A car knocked them down.
(3) The computer has solved the problem. (Quirk et al 1985:743)
According to Quirk et al (ibid., 744), one of the reasons for distinguishing between an
agent, the external causer, and an instrument as the causer of the action is that we cannot
generally coordinate these three types of causers. It is possible to say The gamekeeper wounded
him, where the gamekeeper is an agent, and A gun wounded him, where a gun is the instrument.
However, we cannot coordinate these two causers of the action *The gamekeeper and a gun
wounded him. Coordination is possible if two events are involved, as in the combination of the
external causer and an agent in Hurricanes and marauding bands devastated the region (at
different times). On the other hand, when an instrument or external causer is the subject of a
transitive verb, it may acquire metaphorically some notion of agency. Consequently, we can
sometimes find combinations where the same process seems to be involved: Clumsy musicians
and poor instruments (together) spoiled the performance of the symphony.
2. The formal parameters of causation
There are a number of ways, called formal mechanisms, which are used to express a
causative relationship in English.
2.1 The morphological mechanism
The causative meaning is conveyed by the usage of different morphological techniques
such as suffixation, prefixation, vowel change, and conversion.
2.1.1 The use of suffixes in the formation of causative verbs
Causative verbs can be derived from:
• adjectives by the use of suffixes –en, -ize, -ify:
dark-darken
minimal- minimize
pure- purify
light – lighten
legal- legalize
just – justify
• nouns by the use of suffixes –en, -ize, -ify:
height – heighten
nation – nationalize
glory – glorify
8
strength – strengthen
sympathy- sympathize
mystery – mystify
2.1.2 The use of prefixes in the formation of causative verbs
Causative verbs can be formed by adding:
• prefixes en-, dis- to adjectives:
able – enable
quiet- disquiet
rich – enrich
• prefixes en-, em- and dis- to nouns:
circle – encircle
power – empower
courage – discourage
code- encode
balm - embalm
band– disband
• prefixes dis-, un- to verbs:
arrange – disarrange
bolt - unbolt
connect – disconnect
fold – unfold
2.1.3 The formation of causative verbs by means of vowel change
Causative verbs can be derived by vowel change:
• fall – fell
The woodcutter caused the tree to fall. The woodcutter felled the tree.
• rise – raise
He caused the window to rise. He raised the window.
• sit - sat
She caused the baby to sit on the chair. She sat the baby on the chair.
• lie - lay
Ann caused the baby to lie down on the bed. Ann laid the baby down on the bed.
2.1.4 The formation of causative verbs by means of conversion
Causative verbs are formed by means of zero affixation called conversion.
The verbs of this kind are derived from:
• nouns:
clean – to clean
cool – to cool
• adjectives:
brown – to brown,
9
empty – to empty
clear – to clear
narrow – to narrow
warm –to warm
2.2 The lexical mechanism
The linguist Wolff7 defines lexical causative verbs (also known as covert or underived
causatives) as verbs which encode the notions of cause and result. In this case the result of the
causative process can be expressed by using the same lexeme.
2.2.1 The classification of lexical causative verbs
Lexical causatives can be divided into six main subclasses according to the type of result
they encode:
1. Lexical causative verbs that encode the change of state: awake, bake, balance, bend, boil,
break, burn, change, chill, close, collapse, cook, decompose, decrease, defrost, dissolve, divide,
drain, enlarge, expand, explode, flood, fold, freeze, fry, increase, melt, open, reproduce, roast,
shrink, simmer, sink, split, tear.
2. Lexical causative verbs that encode the change of location in a particular manner: drift, drop,
float, glide, move, roll, slide, spin, turn, twist, whirl, wind.
3. Lexical causative verbs that encode the certain kinds of light and sound emission: shine, beam,
buzz, jingle, ring, rustle.
4. A fourth possible class of lexical causatives are the so called “subject-initiating, implicit
causality verbs” or “stimulus-experiencer verbs” such as amaze, amuse, bore, charm, deceive,
disappoint, fascinate, frighten, inspire, scare and surprise. These verbs can be given a causative
paraphrase, e.g. She amazed him, implies She caused him to be amazed8.
5. Levin9 and Kearns (2000:246) distinguish one more group of lexical causatives, namely, the
verbs of creation: compose, construct, design, fabricate, manufacture, develop, write, paint,
build, carve, create, produce.
7
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
The information about the first four classes of lexical causative verbs has been retrieved from:
http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
9
Retrieved from: http://amor.rz.hu-berlin.de/~h2816i3x/LexSemantik6.pdf
8
10
6. Suppletive pairs are formed by means of lexical suppletion and include such verbs as believe –
persuade (cause sb to believe), buy – sell (cause sb to buy), die – kill (cause sb to die), fall – drop
(to cause sth to fall) are treated by Comrie (1981:161) as the examples of lexical causatives.
2.2.2 The ergative transformation
Most lexical causatives have intransitive variants, which are called by Comrie (ibid., 161)
anti – causatives.
Lyons (1969:352), who adheres to the transformational treatment of causative verbs,
derives them from intransitive verbs.
Let`s consider the following example:
(1) The stone moved.
(2) John moved the stone.
In the first sentence the verb to move is intransitive whereas in the second one it becomes
transitive. The subject of an intransitive verb becomes the object of a corresponding transitive
verb, and a new ergative subject is introduced as the agent or cause of the action referred to. This
suggests that a transitive sentence may be derived syntactically from an intransitive sentence by
means of the ergative, or causative, transformation. The verb to move in sentence (2) expresses an
implicit result while in sentence (1) the result is explicit. The verb to move illustrates the way in
which intransitive and transitive sentences may be related by means of the notion of causation:
the same verb lexeme is used in both types of sentences without modification of the verb itself.
The transitive verb to move and other lexical causatives may be described as being derived from
the corresponding intransitive verbs (identical in phonological form, and for that reason called the
“same” verbs) by means of a morphological process of “zero modification”.
According to Lyons (1969:352), not only lexical causatives connect the corresponding
intransitive and transitive sentences. In English there are pairs of different verb lexemes between
which the same syntactic and semantic relationship exists in corresponding intransitive and
transitive sentences. These pairs of verbs consist of such transitive verbs as fell, raise, sat, lay
which are derived morphologically from intransitive verbs fall, rise, sit and lie by means of vowel
change. These pairs also include such verbs as die and kill, fall and drop derived by means of
lexical suppletion and verbs formed from adjectives and nouns by adding affixes. In the
following two sentences Bill died and John killed Bill the relationship of the transitive sentence to
the intransitive is “lexicalized”. It is a matter of the lexical structure of English that we say John
killed Bill rather than *John died Bill (Lyons 1969: 352).
11
Some verbs are used ergatively with one or two nouns only.
Consider:
(1) I rang the bell/ alarm.
(1a) The bell/alarm rang.
(2) A car was sounding its horn.
(2a) A horn sounded in the night.
(3) He fired a gun/ rifle/ pistol.
(3a) The gun/ rifle/ pistol fired. (Sinclair 1990:157)
According to Wolff10, certain verbs of destruction (destroy, damage, ruin, spoil,
extinguish), which belong to the category of the change of state lexical causative verbs, do not
participate in the ergative transformation. Nevertheless, they are considered to be lexical
causatives as they bring about the change of state.
Quirk et al (1972:351) also support the idea that most lexical causative verbs have
intransitive variants. The grammarians perceive a regular relation, in terms of clause function,
between adjectives or intransitive verbs and the corresponding transitive verbs which express
causative meaning:
Group I
Group II
Group III
Group IV
10
SV
SVO
Dinner is cooking.
Tom is cooking dinner.
The door opened.
John opened the door.
My roses are growing.
I am growing my roses.
SV
SVO
An arm rose.
Someone raised an arm.
The flowers have died.
The frost has killed the flowers.
SVC
SVO
The road became narrower.
They narrowed the road.
I got angry.
His manner angered me.
SV
SVO
The soldiers marched home.
They marched the soldiers home.
Joe stood against the wall.
They stood Joe against the wall.
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
12
As can be seen from the examples, in many cases (group I) the same verb lexeme
performs both transitive and intransitive roles without the change of form. In other cases (group
II) the intransitive verb has to be replaced by another verb, which may resemble it in spelling and
pronunciation. In group III, an adjective X is matched by a causative verb (of the same or slightly
different form) with the meaning to “cause to be X”. Group IV shows that the subject of the
intransitive verb may itself be agentive, in which case the switch to a causative construction may
involve changing the role of that element to the affected. Thus, He paraded the soldiers does not
necessarily imply any volition on the part of the soldiers; rather, it suggests the opposite. (Quirk
et al, op.cit., 352)
2.3 The syntactic mechanism
The syntactic mechanism includes causative verbs followed by a direct object, a resulting
attribute and a complex object. The mechanism also includes causal connectives which are used
to express causation at the sentence and text level.
2.3.1 The classification of syntactic causative verbs
Causative verbs followed by a nominalized direct object
Wolff11, Girju12, Biber et al (1999:363) distinguish a group of verbs which occur with
nominalized direct objects. These verbs indicate that some person or inanimate entity brings
about a new state of affairs. This group includes the following verbs: allow, cause, enable, force,
help, require, lead to, bring about, give rise to, result in, depend on.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) The driver`s carelessness caused the crash.
(2) He argues that higher wages inevitably lead to higher prices.
(3) There has been an accident on the motorway, resulting in long delays.
(4) Success depends on our hard work.
(5) This information enables the formulation of precise questions.
In the above sentences, causative verbs are followed either by nouns or noun phrases
which function as nominalized direct objects.
11
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
from: http://cs.baylor.edu/girju/papers/rox-AAAISpring02.ps.
2 Retrieved
13
Causative verbs followed by a resulting attribute
Wolff13 and Quirk et al (1972:350) distinguish a class of verbs followed by adjectival
phrases which in the sentence function as resulting attributes. These adjectival phrases name a
resulting state or location.
Constructions formed by causative verbs followed by a resulting attribute can be analysed
as expressing complex events, which are composed of two subevents, and receive a causative
analysis. For example, the sentence The children yelled themselves hoarse, describes “a yelling
event” and “a becoming hoarse event” that are causally related to each other. This causal
relationship is made clear in the sentence The children caused themselves to become hoarse by
yelling, which is the acceptable paraphrase of the sentence The children made themselves hoarse.
According to Wolff, the main difference between this type of construction and lexical
causatives is that in the case of causative verbs followed by adjectival phrases the result is
encoded in the adjectival phrase while in lexical causatives it is encoded in the verb. It means that
the verb followed by the adjectival phrase can encode information about the means or mechanism
of causation.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) The maid dusted/ vacuumed/ swept/ mopped the house clean.
(2) The maid cleaned the house.
(3) The maid cleaned the house by dusting/ vacuuming/ sweeping/ mopping.
As can be seen from the above examples, the construction which consists of the verb
followed by a resulting attribute allows us to specify whether a house became clean through
dusting, vacuuming, sweeping or mopping. This is in contrast to the lexical causative
construction (sentence 2), which leaves the means of causation unspecified. Sentence (2) can be
transformed in such a way as to include information about the manner of causation, as is
illustrated in sentence (3). However, it should be noted that the manner phrases in sentence (3)
are optional while the verb encoding information about the means of causation in sentence (1) is
obligatory.
Other verbs that are followed by adjectival phrases which name a resulting state are as
follows: cut, drive, get, knock, make, paint, pick, render, rub, send, shoot, turn, wipe. Most of
13
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
14
these verbs can have only one adjective or a very small range of adjectives as their complements,
however, make, turn and render can be used with a wide number of adjectives.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) That noise is driving me mad.
(2) The criminal had knocked him unconscious.
(3) She painted her eyelids deep blue.
(4) Sea water rendered the equipment useless.
(5) His actions made him universally respected. (Sinclair 1990:180)
Causative verbs followed by a complex object
Comrie (1981:160) and Wolff14 distinguish the group of verbs followed by the objective
infinitive or participle construction. The construction consists of a noun in the common case or a
pronoun in the objective case and the infinitive or participle. In the sentence this construction
functions as a complex object.
In this case causal relationship is expressed with two or more predicate terms, one of
which encodes the notion of cause and the other implies the result. The causative constructions of
this type are often composed of a matrix verb that takes an embedded clause or predicate as a
complement. For example, in the sentence Alison caused the door to open the matrix verb cause
expresses the notion of cause while the embedded verb open expresses a particular result.
According to the force dynamic model of causation, causative verbs followed by a
complex object fall into three basic categories. The theory of causation known as force dynamics
was originally proposed by Talmy and was further elaborated on by several researchers, Wolff15
among them. According to Wolff, the force dynamic model of causation represents a particular
approach to causation that specifies the basic dimensions of meaning associated with such causal
concepts as cause, enable and prevent. From a force dynamic perspective, the concept of cause
belongs to a family of concepts that includes the concepts of enable and prevent among others.
Each of these concepts represents an interaction between an affector (a causer) and a patient (a
causee) that can be captured in terms of various patterns of tendency, relative strength, rest, and
motion of the two participants. Typically, an affector is the entity that acts on another entity and a
patient is the entity that is acted on by another entity. In the adaptation of Talmy`s theory the
cause – related concepts are specified according to whether one entity (the patient) changes or
14
15
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/WolffForceDyn.pdf
15
remains the same with respect to a particular location or state as a consequence of the forces
associated with it and another entity that acts on it (the affector). By forces are meant such
phenomena as physical forces, desires, historical pressures, etc. that can combine to produce an
overall push upon the patient.
The force dynamic model of causation defines the concepts of cause, enable and prevent
with respect to three main dimensions:
1. the patient`s tendency for a result;
2. the presence of opposition between the affector and patient;
3. the occurrence of a result.
The notion of tendency is defined as the patient`s propensity for a result due to properties
or activities that are internal to the patient, including its ability to change itself and/or resist
change (e.g. an object`s thrust, tendency to fall or tendency to resist motion due to friction or
inertial forces). Opposition between the affector and patient is said to be present when the force
exerted on the patient by the affector is no consistent with the patient`s tendency. The notion of a
result is defined as a particular endstate that a patient could enter into if a change in the patient
occurs.
The way in which these dimensions define and differentiate the concepts of cause, enable
and prevent is specified inTable1.16
Table1.The representations of cause, enable and prevent.
The component of meaning
Cause
Enable
Prevent
The patient`s tendency for a result
-
+
+
The presence of opposition between
+
-
+
+
+
-
the affector and patient or the
lack of concordance between the
affector and patient
The occurrence of a result
Wolff distinguishes the following groups of causative verbs that can be followed by a
complex object:
1. Cause-type verbs: cause, compel, force, get, have, induce, influence, inspire, lead, make, push,
stimulate.
16
The table was retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
16
2. Enable-type verbs: aid, allow, enable, help, let, permit.
3. Prevent-type verbs: block, constrain, discourage, dissuade, hold, impede, keep, prevent,
protect, restrain, restrict, save, stop.
Let`s consider the following examples which illustrate the difference between the three concepts:
(1) The blast caused the boat to heel.
(2) Vitamin B enables the body to digest food.
(3) The rain prevented the tar from bonding.
In sentence (1) the patient (the craft) does not have the tendency for the result (heeling).
However, the tendency is opposed by the affector (the blast) and the result of heeling occurs. In
enabling situations, as in sentence (2), the patient (the body) has the tendency for the result (to
digest food). This tendency is not opposed by the affector (vitamin B). On the contrary, vitamin B
assists in the realization of the tendency and it leads to the occurrence of the result. In situations
involving prevention, as in sentence (3), the patient (the tar) has the tendency for the occurrence
of the result (bonding) but this tendency is opposed and blocked by the rain and, as a
consequence, the result does not occur17.
As can be seen from the above examples, causative verbs followed by a complex object
can distinguish between generative causation (expressed by cause and enable-type verbs which
entail or strongly imply the occurrence of a result) and prohibitive causation (expressed by
prevent-type verbs which imply the non-occurrence of the change of state that would have
occurred without intervention). Moreover, there is a difference between the notions of cause and
enable in terms of the patient`s tendency for an end-state and the affector`s concordance with the
patient. As a result, the verb cause cannot be replaced by the verb enable and vice versa. For
example, we can say ”The explosion caused the windows to shatter“, but not “The explosion
enabled the windows to shatter”. Conversely, we say “Petrol enables cars to run”, but not “Petrol
causes cars to run”.
2.3.2 The syntactic and semantic features of syntactic causative verbs
Wolff18 distinguishes a range of complements that can be found with syntactic causative
verbs:
1. The infinitive phrase:
17
18
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Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/ExpressingCausation.pdf
17
The blast caused the boat to heel.
2. The bare infinitive:
The wind made the window shudder.
3. The noun phrase:
Inflation caused the rise in prices.
4. The noun clause:
He caused that the school was closed.
5. The participle phrase:
Jay set the pendulum swinging.
The verbs to make and to have, which are the two of the most commonly occurring verbs
in syntactic causative constructions, are followed by the bare infinitive as it is illustrated by the
following example: I made her stay until the mystery was solved.
The grammarians Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1983:480) claim that more formal
verbs are followed by the to-infinitive phrase while more informal verbs take bare infinitives.
This observation seems to hold for the most part, with get being the exception since it is informal
and yet is followed by the to-infinitive phrase.
Make and have can have their infinitive complements further reduced when the verb in
the complement is also deleted (usually it is the verb to be or a verb of motion):
(1) He made her (be) his wife.
(2) They had some friends (come) over.
Other causative verbs can also be found with reduced complements when the to + verb is
dropped:
(1) He forced the door (to be) open.
(2) The principal ordered him (to be) suspended.
It has been pointed out that the deletion of to be in such causatives is often lexically
influenced. In the first sentence the deletion is virtually obligatory, in the second one the deletion
is optional and in the sentence like He forced the children to be quiet the deletion would be
impossible.
Another observation concerning the syntax of causative verbs is connected with their
interaction with the passive. Both have and get can act as passive auxiliaries and embed
passivelike complements as easily as they do active ones:
(1) I had someone cut my hair.
(1a) I had my hair cut.
(2) I got Brian to wash my car.
(2a)
I got my car washed.
18
This is not true of make and other causative verbs, which require the auxiliary to be in the
passive:
I made Jerry write the letter.
Jerry was made to write the letter.
There is also a reversal with regard to the presence or absence of to in the infinitive
complement. Unlike active get, passive get no longer takes to when the complement is a
passivelike construction. Conversely, active make takes no to in its infinitive complement, while
passive make requires to (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, op.cit., 480).
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (op.cit., 481) distinguish certain semantic differences
among syntactic causative verbs. Many of these differences can be explained by examining the
relationship between the subject of the main clause and the subject of the embedded clause. The
grammarians analyse the three most commonly occurring causative verbs: have, get and make.
1. Have suggests that the embedded subject was selected by the subject of the main clause to
perform a service: We had Ray mow the lawn.
2. Get conveys the sense that the subject of the main clause used persuasion or coercion to elicit
the desired action from the embedded subject: I got him to admit his mistake.
3. Make implies that the subject of the main clause has power or authority over the embedded
subject: The judge made him apologize for his wrongdoings.
The semantics of the passive variants of these three causative verbs seems to be similar to
that of the active forms. Passive have suggests that the action was routinely accomplished and
passive get implies that some effort was required to perform the action.
Let`s consider the following example:
I had a lot of trouble finding someone to do it, but finally I
(1) had the lawn mowed.
(2) got the lawn mowed.
Another distinction between have and get in the above example is the degree of
involvement of the subject of the main clause. Get may indicate that the subject of the main
clause performed the action.
Alexander (1998:248) also supports the fact that get contains a stronger idea of the action
performed by the subject and it also suggests some difficulty in performing the action, which
would not be conveyed by had. Get sounds more natural than have in the imperative: Get your
hair cut!
In suggestions with “Why don`t you …?” get is much stronger than have:
(1) Why don`t you have your hair cut? (neutral suggestion)
(2) Why don`t you get your hair cut? (almost an order).
19
2.4 Connectives used to mark the cause at the sentence level
There are a number of connectives that are used to mark the cause at the sentence level,
i.e. within the boundaries of one sentence. These connectives include: subordinating
conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions and modifiers, conjunctive
adverbs, prepositional and conjunctive phrases, prepositions.
2.4.1 Subordinating conjunctions
The following subordinating conjunctions are used to mark the cause:
• causal: because, since, as, for;
• temporal: after, when;
• conditional: if.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) Just because I don`t complain, people think I`m satisfied.
(2) Since John was exhausted by the time he arrived, he went straight to bed.
(3) As a married man he has to think of his family.
(4) As he was tired, he was not able to come to the meeting.
(5) We listened eagerly, for he brought news of our families.
(6) Ralph left the Republican Party after G. Bush was nominated.
(7) Sarah stopped her car when she saw a deer on the road.
(8) If you are found guilty, you will go straight to prison.
In all these cases the main clause expresses the result and the subordinate clause expresses
the cause19.
Conjunctions “for” and “because”
Conjunctions for and because have the same meaning and very often either of them can
be used. However, Thomson and Martinet (1986:291) claim that it is safer to use because, as a
clause introduced by for, which is also called a for-clause, is more restricted in use than a clause
introduced by because. The grammarians introduce four types of restrictions for the usage of a
for-clause:
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• A for-clause cannot precede the verb which it explains:
Because it was wet, he took a taxi. (For is not possible.)
• A for-clause cannot be preceded by not, but or any other conjunction:
He burgled the house not because he wanted money, but because he liked stealing. (For
is not possible.)
• A for-clause cannot be used in answer to a question:
Why did you do it? – I did it because I was angry. (For is not possible.)
• A for-clause cannot be a mere repetition of what has already been said, but always includes
some new information:
He spoke French. She was angry because he had spoken French. (For is not possible.)
But we can say ”She was angry, for she didn`t know French.” (Here for is correct;
because is also possible).
The reason for these restrictions is that a for-clause does not present the reason why a
certain action was performed but only presents some additional information which helps to
explain the reason.
Some more examples of for-clauses:
(1) The days were short, for it was now December.
(2) He took the food eagerly, for he had not eaten anything since dawn. (Thomson and
Martinet, op.cit., 291).
The replacement of subordinate clauses expressing causation by participle phrases
Graver (1986:273), Thomson and Martinet (op.cit., 242) claim that it is possible to
express the cause by replacing subordinate clauses which contain conjunctions as, since and
because by present, past and perfect participles. Such clauses are called non-finite clauses of
reason or cause.
• The present participle
Consider:
(1) Knowing that he wouldn`t be able to buy food during his journey, he took large
supplies with him. → Since he knew that he wouldn`t be able to buy food during his
journey, he took large supplies with him.
(2) Fearing that the police would recognize him, he never went out in daylight. → As he
feared that the police would recognize him, he never went out in daylight.
21
The participle being at the beginning of the sentence usually means “as / because he
is/was”:
Being poor, they couldn`t afford to buy a better flat. → They couldn`t afford to buy a
better flat because they were poor.
The participle seeing that at the beginning of the sentence means the same as since and it
is mainly used in informal speech:
Seeing that you are a guest on this trip, I won`t tell you what I think of your behaviour
yesterday. → Since you are a guest on this trip, I won`t tell you what I think of your
behaviour yesterday.
The subject of the participle is not necessarily the same as the subject of the following
verb:
The day being fine, we decided to go swimming.
In cases like this the participle must follow its noun or pronoun. The sentence *Being fine
the day, we decided to go swimming is incorrect, but the sentence Being athletic, Tom found the
climb quite easy is correct, as Tom is the subject of both the participle and the following verb. It
is possible to use two or more participles one after the other:
(1) Realising that he didn`t have enough money and not wanting to borrow from his
father, he decided to sell his watch.
(2) Not knowing the language and having no friends in the town, he found it difficult to
get a job.
• The past participle
It is also possible to replace subordinate clauses introduced by as/ because/ since by past
participles.
Consider:
Convinced that they were trying to poison him, he refused to eat anything. → As he was
convinced that they were trying to poison him, he refused to eat anything.
•The perfect participle
We may as well use perfect participles (active and passive) to replace subordinate clauses
introduced by as/ because/ since.
Consider:
(1) Having heard nothing further from him, we assumed that he was not going to come.
→Since we had heard nothing further from him, we assumed that he was not going to
come.
22
(2) Having been bitten twice, the postman refused to deliver our letters. → As he had been
bitten twice, the postman refused to deliver our letters. (Thomson and Martinet, op.cit.,
243)
2.4.2 Coordinating conjunctions
The next category of causal connectives is made up by coordinating conjunctions and and
so. In causal descriptions containing coordinators, the order of the causing and resulting events is
fixed and the cause must precede the result.
Consider:
(1) Ralph crashed the car and his father got angry with him.
(2) She ate a lot of ice-cream so she gained weight.
The examples demonstrate that the first clause expresses the cause and the clause
introduced by the conjunctions and and so marks the result. Since cause and result are closely
connected, these conjunctions are included by Halliday (1976:256) and Wolff20 into the group of
causal connectives.
The conjunction so can co-occur with the conjunction and.
For example:
She was having great difficulty in getting her car out and so I had to move my car to let
her out.
2.4.3 Correlative conjunctions and modifiers
Some linguists (e.g. Sinclair 1990:357) claim that sentences that involve correlatives
so…that and such…that encode the notions of cause and result.
Consider:
(1) He dressed so quickly that he put his boots on the wrong feet.
(2) She got such a shock that she dropped the bag.
The above sentences can be paraphrased in the following way:
(1a) He put his boots on the wrong feet because he dressed quickly.
(2a) She dropped her bag because she got a shock.
20
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When we use the verb to be or an auxiliary in the main clause, the normal order of words
is changed to add greater emphasis. In this case so appears at the beginning of the sentence and it
is followed by the adjective, adverb or noun group; to be or the auxiliary is placed in front of the
subject.
Consider:
So successful have they been that they are moving to Bond Street.
The structures with so…that and such…that are used to say that a result happens because
something has a quality to a particular extent or because something is done in an extreme way.
(Sinclair, op.cit., 357)
The modifiers too and enough help to express the causes of certain events or situations
(Willis 1991:188). When a situation does not happen because someone or something has an
excessive amount of a quality, we use the modifier too followed by an adjective and the to–
infinitive phrase.
Consider:
(1) They were too tired to walk. → They did not walk because they were too tired.
(2) He was too proud to apologise. → He did not apologise because he was too proud.
We can also use too followed by an adverb and the to–infinitive phrase:
They had been walking too silently to be heard. → Nobody heard them because they had
been walking too silently.
When a situation happens or is possible because someone or something has a sufficient
amount of a quality, we use the modifier enough after adjectives and adverbs followed by the toinfinitive phrase.
Consider:
(1) He was old enough to realize the seriousness of the situation. → Since he was old
enough, he realized the seriousness of the situation.
(2) She sang beautifully enough to win an award. → She won an award because she sang
beautifully. (Willis, op.cit., 188)
2.4.4 Conjunctive adverbs
The following conjunctive adverbs are used to express causal relations: consequently,
thus, therefore (Halliday 1976:256). All of these conjunctive adverbs can be used with or without
the conjunction and.
We use therefore and consequently before a clause:
24
I failed my driving test the first time and, therefore, I took it again.
We can also put therefore after the subject of the clause:
We have a growing population and we, therefore, need more and more food.
Therefore and consequently can also be used at the beginning of a separate sentence to give
greater prominence to the second predicaion:
(1) He lacks money to invest in improving his tools. Therefore, he is poor.
(2) My car broke down. Consequently, I arrived rather late.
Therefore is used after the subject of a separate sentence:
He left us. He, therefore, loses his share. (Sinclair 1990:188; Beaumont and Granger
1992:247)
Let`s consider some more examples with consequently, thus and therefore:
(1) It was raining heavily and, consequently, we didn`t go out.
(2) The new trains have powerful engines and are, therefore, faster.
(3) He is the eldest son and, thus, heir to the title.
2.4.5 Prepositional phrases
The following prepositional phrases are used to express the cause: because of, due to, out
of, as a result of, in response to, thanks to, owing to, on account of, (just) in case, for the reason
that, by reason of, in view of the fact that, in so far as.
Consider:
(1) The meaning of the word can vary a great deal depending on the context. For this
reason, pocket dictionaries have a very limited use.
(2) We had to drive slowly because of the heavy rain.
(3) On account of his wide experience, he was made chairman.
On account of is a more formal alternative to because of as an expression of cause or reason.
We can use (just) in case when we mention a possible future situation which is someone`s
reason for doing something:
(1) I am here just in case anything out of the ordinary happens.
(2) Sam has consented to take an overcoat in case the wind rose. (Sinclair 1990:355)
2.4.6 Prepositions
The following prepositions expressing cause can be distinguished: from, for, through,
with, by.
25
The prepositions from and out of are mainly used to express a motive, that is, a
psychological cause:
Some people support charities from a sense of guilt, others out of duty.
The preposition for is mostly used with the nouns of feeling:
(1) He jumped for joy.
(2) I hid the money for fear of what my parents would say.
According to Leech and Svartvik (1975:76), prepositional phrases which are introduced
by prepositions with and by express the means or instrument which may take the position of
subject, that is, the role of the causer of the action.
Let`s consider the following sentences:
1) They killed him with a bullet.
2) A bullet killed him.
In the second sentence the instrument takes the position of the subject, that is, it becomes
the causer of the action. In the passive constructions the causer of the action can be expressed by
an agent by-phrase: He was killed by a bullet.
2.5 The role of connectives in expressing the cause at the text level
Connectives function as cohesive devices which are means of creating text. They relate
linguistic elements that occur in succession but are not related by other structural means.
According to Halliday (1976:227), two or more sentences cohere into a text by means of some
form of conjunction. That is why connectives make it possible to express causation at the text
level.
Halliday (op.cit., 256) claims that the simple form of causal relation is expressed by so,
thus, hence, therefore, consequently, accordingly, and a number of expressions like as a result, in
consequence, because of that.
The causal relation may be repeated in order to form a cohesive chain, as in the following
example:
But they have their tails in their mouths; and the reason is…that they would go with the
lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So they had to fall a long way. So
they got their tails fast in the mouths. So they couldn`t get them out again.
Causal relations have two aspects: external and internal. External cohesion implies a
relation between meanings in the sense of representations of our experience of external reality.
The internal type of cohesion implies some kind of reasoning or argument from a premise; it is a
26
relation between meanings in the sense of representations of the speaker`s perception of the
situation (Halliday, op.cit., 321).
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) She was never really happy here. So she is leaving. (external cohesion)
(2) She`ll be better off in a new place. – So she is leaving? (internal cohesion)
In sentence (1) there is a causal relation between two different phenomena of external
reality. The meaning is ”because she was not happy, she is leaving”. In sentence (2) there is also
a causal relation, but it is within the communication process; the meaning is “because you refer to
her being about to be in a new place, I conclude that she is leaving”.
Linguists (e.g. Halliday, op.cit., 257) claim that the distinction between the external and
internal types of cohesion tends to be a little less clear in the context of causal relations than it is
in other contexts. The reason for that may be that the notion of cause already involves some
degree of interpretation by the speaker. However, it is impossible to say that there is no
distinction at all. The forms such as thus, hence, therefore, arising out of this, following from this
imply a kind of argument from a premise.
The word so is not common in this meaning, however it often appears in another meaning,
also internal, as a statement about the speaker`s reasoning process.
Consider the following example:
The very first thing she did was to look whether there was a fire in the fireplace, and she
was quite pleased that there was a real one, and blazing away as brightly as the one she
had left behind. “So I shall be as warm here as I was in the old room,” thought Alice.
(Halliday, op.cit., 257).
The reversed form of the causal relation, in which the presupposing sentence expresses
the cause, is less common as a form of cohesion. Within the sentence, it is natural to find the
structural expression of cause going in either direction. However, with the cohesive relation
between sentences in which the text unfolds one sentence after another, the logical precedence of
cause over effect is reflected in the typical sequence in which sentences related in this way tend
to occur. Nevertheless, such expressions as the reason was that and the like, the conjunction for
are used to express causal relations in the reversed form.
It is illustrated by the following example:
The next morning she was glad and proud that she had not yielded to a scare. For he was
most strangely and obviously better.
27
In the above example the conjunction for is used in an internal sense which means “this is
the reason for what was just said” (Halliday, op.cit., 257)
28
3. The expression of causation in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray“
by O.Wilde
O. Wilde used all the three formal mechanisms, namely the morphological, lexical and
syntactic mechanism, to express causation in the novel „The Picture of Dorian Gray“.
3.1 The morphological mechanism
The morphological mechanism includes causative verbs formed by means of affixation,
conversion, and vowel change.
3.1.1 Affixation
In the corpus examined the author used causative verbs formed by adding prefixes and
suffixes to nouns, adjectives and verbs.
Prefixes
In the novel there were 15 causative verbs formed by means of adding prefixes. The
author used 3 verbs formed by adding prefixes im- and en- to nouns.
Consider the following examples:
(1) But he suddenly started up, and closing his eyes, placed his fingers upon the lids, as
though he sought to imprison within his brain some curious dream from which he feared
he might awake. (Wilde 2004:6)
(2) There was something in the purity and refinement of that sad face that seemed to
enrage him. (Wilde 2004:214)
Besides, the author used 2 causative verbs formed by adding the prefix re- to adjectives:
After about ten minutes he got up, and throwing on an elaborate dressing-gown of
silk-embroidered cashmere wool, passed into the onyx-paved bathroom, the cool
water refreshed him after his long sleep. (Wilde 2004:118)
In the novel there were 2 causative verbs formed by adding the prefix re- to verbs:
Certainly with hideous iteration the bitten lips of Dorian Gray shaped and reshaped those
subtle words that dealt with soul and sense, till he had found in them the full expression
(…). (Wilde 2004:231)
In the corpus examined the greatest number of causative verbs formed by means of
adding prefixes was constituted by the verbs with the prefix un- added to verbs:
29
(1) He unlocked a secret press that was in the wainscoting, a press in which he kept his
own curious disguises, and put them into it. (Wilde 2004:199)
(2) “There will be no difficulty, sir,” said the genial frame-maker, beginning, with the
aid of his assistant, to unhook the picture from the long brass chains by which it was
suspended. (Wilde 2004:152)
(3) As he unbarred the door, a smile of joy flitted across his strangely young-looking
face and lingered for a moment about his lips. (Wilde 2004:275)
Suffixes
In the corpus examined the author used 10 verbs formed by adding suffixes –en and –fy to
nouns and adjectives. In the novel we found causative verbs formed by adding the suffix –en to
adjectives and such verbs prevailed over causative verbs formed by means of suffixation.
Consider the following examples:
(1) Your portrait of him has quickened his appreciation of the personal appearance of
other people. (Wilde 2004:93)
(2) Then he straightened himself up, and walked over to the fire-place, and stood there,
looking at the burning logs with their frost-like ashes and their throbbing cores of flame.
(Wilde 2004:192)
(3) The door opened quietly, and he went in without saying a word to the squat
misshapen figure that flattened itself into the shadow as he passed. (Wilde 2004: 232)
The author also used one verb formed by adding the suffix –en to a noun:
“Did you go down and see the girl`s mother? For a moment I thought of following
you there. (…)But I was afraid of intruding upon a sorrow that I could not lighten.”
(Wilde 2004:135)
In the novel there was only one causative verb formed by adding the suffix –fy to an adjective:
Some love might come across his life, and purify him, and shield him from those
sins that seemed to be already stirring in spirit and in flesh (…). (Wilde 2004:153).
3.1.2 Vowel change
In the corpus examined the frequency of causative verbs formed by means of vowel
change was very low. The only verb from this group which was used by the author is the verb to
raise. It occurred in the novel 4 times.
Consider:
30
(1) “Dry-goods! What are American dry-goods?” asked the duchess, raising her large
hands in wonder and accentuating the verb. (Wilde 2004:50)
(2) And yet if it had been merely an illusion, how terrible it was to think that
conscience could raise such fearful phantoms, and give them visible form, and make
them move before one! (Wilde 2004:249)
Transformationally, transitive sentences that contain verbs formed by means of vowel
change are derived from intransitive ones in the process of the ergative or causative
transformation. The given sentences can be derived from the following intransitive or noncausative variants:
(1a) The duchess`s large hands rose in wonder.
(2a) Fearful phantoms rose.
Sentences (1) and (2) only imply a certain result of the action while sentences (1a) and
(2a) express the result explicitly.
3.1.3 Conversion
O. Wilde used quite a number of verbs formed by zero affixation, i.e. conversion. The
most frequently used causative verbs that were derived from nouns were as follows: to interest (5
times), to trouble (4 times), to stain (4 times), to charm (3 times), to pain (2 times), to wound (2
times).
Consider:
(1) Basil was really rather dull. He only interested me once, and that was when he told
me, years ago, that he had a wild adoration for you and that you were the dominant
motive of his art. (Wilde 2004:264)
(2) Suddenly she felt the need to speak. The wordy silence troubled her. (Wilde
2004:78)
(3) And how charming he had been at dinner the night before, as with startled eyes and
lips parted in frightened pleasure, he had sat opposite to him at the club, the red
candleshades staining to a richer rose the wakening wonder of his face. (Wilde
2004:47)
(4) Sir Geoffrey put his gun to his shoulder, but there was something in the animal's
grace of movement that strangely charmed Dorian Gray, and he cried out at once, “Don't
shoot it, Geoffrey. Let it live.” (Wilde 2004:250)
31
(5)”You pain me, my son. I trust you will return from Australia in a position of
affluence.” (Wilde 2004:80)
(6) His life was well worth hers. She had marred him for a moment, if he had wounded
her for an age. (Wilde 2004:115)
Causative verbs derived from adjectives by means of conversion form another group of
verbs which were used by the author of the novel. The most frequently occurring verbs included:
to free (3 times), to wrong (2 times), to warm (2 times).
Consider the following examples:
(1) For years, Dorian Gray could not free himself from the influence of this hook. Or
perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he never sought to free himself from it.
(Wilde 2004:159)
(2) When you see Sibyl Vane, you will feel that the man who could wrong her would
be a beast, a beast without a heart. I cannot understand how any one can wish to shame
the thing he loves. (Wilde 2004:97)
(3)”Kiss me, Mother,” said the girl. Her flowerlike lips touched the withered cheek
and warmed its frost. (Wilde 2004:83)
Other verbs formed from nouns and adjectives by means of conversion included the
following: to shame, to harm, to balance, to shadow, to dull, to bare, to hollow. All in all, there
were 46 verbs in the novel formed by means of conversion.
For the frequency of verbs formed by morphological means, see Appendix 1 (Table 1 and
Figure 1).
3.2 The lexical mechanism
As already indicated, the lexical mechanism includes verbs that involve the notions of
cause and result which are expressed by the same lexeme. Linguists distinguish six categories of
lexical causative verbs: verbs of the change of state, verbs of the change of location, verbs of
light and sound emission, stimulus-experiencer verbs, verbs of creation and the suppletive pairs
of verbs. The characteristic feature of these verbs is that most of them participate in the ergative
transformation, which means that a causative sentence containing the lexical causative verb may
be derived from a non-causative one.
3.2.1 Verbs of the change of state
32
In the corpus examined there were 189 change of state verbs. These verbs imply that a
certain change of condition occurs in the causee. One of the most frequently used verbs was the
verb to change and its synonyms to alter, to transfigure, to transform, to reform.
Consider the following examples:
(1) Was it some dim sense of that ruined grace that had made him so suddenly, and
almost without cause, give utterance, in Basil Hallward's studio, to the mad prayer
that had so changed his life? (Wilde 2004:178)
(2) Then Wisdom altered its method and spoke of espial and discovery. (Wilde
2004:78)
The above transitive sentences are derived syntactically from intransitive sentences by
means of the ergative or causative transformation. The intransitive counterparts of the sentences
are as follows:
(1a) His life changed.
(2a) The method altered.
The causative verbs to change and to alter which are used transitively in the first pair of
examples imply the result whereas in the second pair of examples the result is expressed
explicitly.
Let`s have a look at some more examples with the verbs synonymous with the verb to change:
(1) Ordinary women never appeal to one's imagination. They are limited to their
century. No glamour ever transfigures them. (Wilde 2004:66)
(2) He played with the idea and grew wilful; tossed it into the air and transformed it
(…). (Wilde 2004:54)
(3) If you want to mar a nature, you have merely to reform it. (Wilde 2004:94)
The verbs used in the above examples do not take part in the ergative transformation
because they cannot be used intransitively. Still, they are considered to be lexical causative verbs
as they imply a certain change of state.
One more lexical causative verb which was quite frequently used in the novel was the verb
to open and its antonyms to close and to shut.
Consider:
(1) “My dear Harry, we either lunch or sup together every day, and I have been to the
opera with you several times,” said Dorian, opening his blue eyes in wonder. (Wilde
2004: 70)
(2) He shivered, and went back, closing the window behind him. (Wilde 2004:199)
33
(3) After a few moments he drew back the latch and slipped out, shutting the door very
gently behind him. (Wilde 2004:200)
The verbs in sentences (1), (2) and (3) can be used intransitively and they participate in
the ergative/causative transformation. The non-causative counterparts of the sentences can be as
follows:
(1a) Dorian`s blue eyes opened in wonder.
(2a) The window closed.
(3a) The door shut.
The verbs to open, to close and to shut in sentences (1), (2) and (3) express an implicit
result while in sentences (1a), (2a) and (3a) the result is explicit.
Verbs of destruction, which can be included into the group of verbs of the change of state,
occurred frequently in the novel. The most often used verbs of destruction included the
following: to mar, to spoil, to destroy, to crush, to ruin, to tear.
Let`s have a look at a few sentences that include verbs of destruction:
(1) Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face.
(Wilde 2004:7)
(2) It was his beauty that had ruined him (…). (Wilde 2004:273)
(3) The vicious cruelty that marred the fine lines of the mouth had, no doubt, appeared
at the very moment that the girl had drunk the poison (…). (Wilde 2004:131)
The verbs in the above examples cannot be used intransitively so they do not take part in
the ergative/causative transformation. However, they belong to the class of the change of state
lexical causative verbs because they imply some change in the causee.
3.2.2 Verbs of the change of location
Verbs of the change of location imply the causee`s movement which results in the change
of position. In the corpus examined there were 52 verbs of the change of location.
Let`s consider the example with one of the most typical verbs belonging to this group, i.e.
the verb to move:
(1) He loved to kneel down on the cold marble pavement and watch the priest, in his
stiff flowered dalmatic, slowly and with white hands moving aside the veil of the
tabernacle (…). (Wilde 2004:166)
In the given sentence the verb to move is used transitively but it can also be used
intransitively, which accounts for its participation in the ergative transformation.
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The sentence can be transformed in the following way:
(1a) The veil of the tabernacle moved.
The verb to move in sentence (1) encodes the implicit result and in sentence (1a) the result
is expressed explicitly.
Two more verbs of the change of location that were used in the novel were the verbs to set
and to turn.
Consider the following sentence:
(1) When they reached the top landing, Dorian set the lamp down on the floor, and taking
out the key, turned it in the lock. (Wilde 2004:193)
In the given example, the verb to set down which has the meaning to place in a position,
cannot be used intransitively and, consequently, it does not take part in the ergative
transformation. Nevertheless, this verb belongs to the group of the change of location verbs as it
implies the change of position. The verb to turn can be used both transitively and intransitively
and, as a result, it participates in the ergative transformation. The verb to turn used intransitively
expresses the result explicitly, which can be illustrated by the following sentence:
(1a) The key turned in the lock.
3.2.3 Verbs of light and sound emission
Verbs of light emission
In the corpus examined there were 9 lexical causative verbs connected with light
emission. The most frequently used verb was to light which was usually combined with the noun
cigarette.
Consider the following example:
”The basis of every scandal is an immoral certainty,” said Lord Henry, lighting a
cigarette. (Wilde 2004:254)
In other cases the verb to light occurred with the nouns candle and Algerian pastilles.
For instance:
(1) As Dorian Gray was lighting a half-burned candle that was standing on the
mantelshelf, he saw that the whole place was covered with dust and that the carpet
was in holes. (Wilde 2004:193)
(2) At the end he felt faint and sick, and having lit some Algerian pastilles in a pierced
copper brazier, he bathed his hands and forehead with a cool musk-scented vinegar.
(Wilde 2004:227)
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The phrasal verb to light up, which means “to make something bright”, also conveys a
causative meaning:
It was tea-time, and the mellow light of the huge, lace-covered lamp that stood on
the table lit up the delicate china and hammered silver of the service at which the
duchess was presiding. (Wilde 2004:240)
One more lexical causative verb of light emission which occurred in the novel was to flash
(to make something shine briefly and suddenly).
Consider:
(1) He looked down and saw the policeman going his rounds and flashing the long beam
of his lantern on the doors of the silent houses. (Wilde 2004:198)
The verb to flash participates in the ergative transformation and has the intransitive
counterpart:
(1a) The long beam of his lantern was flashing on the doors of the silent houses.
Verbs of sound emission
In the novel there were 8 lexical causative verbs of sound emission. The most frequent
verb which belongs to this group was to heave and it occurred in combination with the nouns a
sigh and a breath.
Consider the following examples:
(1) Dorian heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the gardener approaching. (Wilde
2004:253)
(2) He heaved a deep breath, opened the door a little wider, and with half-closed eyes
and averted head, walked quickly in, determined that he would not look even once
upon the dead man. (Wilde 2004:216)
Other lexical causative verbs of sound emission included the following: to ring, to
whisper, to hiss.
For example:
(1) At five o`clock he rang his bell for his servant and gave him orders to pack his
things for the night-express to town, and to have the brougham at the door by eightthirty. (Wilde 2004:256)
(2) As he passed out, he used to look with wonder at the black confessionals and long
to sit in the dim shadow of one of them and listen to men and women whispering through
the worn grating the true story of their lives. (Wilde 2004:166)
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(3) “I remember her bringing me up to a truculent and red-faced old gentleman covered
all over with orders and ribbons, and hissing into my ear, in a tragic whisper which
must have been perfectly audible to everybody in the room, the most astounding details,
I simply fled”. (Wilde 2004:13)
As can be seen from examples (2) and (3), the expressions “to whisper the story of their
lives” and “to hiss the most astounding details” have a causative meaning and convey the idea
that something is made to be known.
The ergative transformation is typical of the verbs in the above examples because they
have intransitive counterparts: the bell is ringing (1); men and women are whispering (2); a redfaced old gentleman is hissing (3).
3.2.4 Stimulus-experiencer verbs
In the corpus examined there were 57 verbs that belong to the group of stimulusexperiencer verbs. We can divide them into two major groups, namely verbs associated with
positive and negative emotions and feelings. Verbs that express positive feelings included the
following: to fascinate, to please, to enthrall, to astound, to stir.
Consider:
(1) The fantastic character of these instruments fascinated him, and he felt a curious
delight in the thought that art, like Nature, has her monsters, things of bestial shape
and with hideous voices. (Wilde 2004:168)
(2) We watch ourselves, and the mere wonder of the spectacle enthralls us. (Wilde
2004:127)
Stimulus-experiencer verbs do not participate in the process of the ergative
transformation as they do not have intransitive variants. The verbs of this group are called by
Wolff21 implicit causality verbs because they only imply cause; they do not express it directly.
The verbs in the above sentences can be paraphrased to emphasize their causative
meaning: to fascinate in sentence (1) and to enthrall in sentence (2) have the meaning of “to
cause somebody to become interested in something”.
Let`s consider some more examples:
(1) She remembered the phrase. It had pleased her. (Wilde 2004:91)
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(2) Sometimes when he was down at his great house in Nottinghamshire, entertaining
the fashionable young men of his own rank who were his chief companions, and
astounding the county by the wanton luxury and gorgeous splendour of his mode of
life, he would suddenly leave his guests (…). (Wilde 2004:176)
(3) Suddenly I found myself face to face with the young man whose personality had so
strangely stirred me. (Wilde 2004:12)
To please in sentence (1) means “to cause somebody to become happy”; to astound in
sentence (2) has the meaning of “to cause somebody to become surprised”; to stir in sentence (3)
means “to make somebody have strong feelings”.
In the novel Wilde also used a number of causative verbs that express negative feelings.
These verbs included: to depress, to exhaust, to terrify, to frighten, to annoy.
Let`s have a look at the following examples:
(1) “I know that look. It depresses me”, murmured Lord Henry, examining his rings.
(Wilde 2004:69)
(2) Like all people who try to exhaust a subject, he exhausted his listeners. (Wilde
2004:51)
(3) He watched it with that strange interest in trivial things that we try to develop when
things of high import make us afraid (…) or when some thought that terrifies us lays
sudden siege to the brain and calls on us to yield. (Wilde 2004:32)
(4) I am afraid I may frighten the company, frighten or enthrall them. To be in love is
to surpass one's self. (Wilde 2004:86)
(5) “Don't, Harry. You have annoyed Dorian. He is not like other men.” (Wilde
2004:97)
The verbs in the above sentences can be paraphrased in the following way: to depress to make somebody sad and without hope; to exhaust – to make a person very tired; to terrify
and to frighten – to make somebody afraid; to annoy – to make somebody fairly angry. The
paraphrase clearly indicates that these verbs convey a causative meaning.
3.2.5 Verbs of creation
In the corpus examined there were 34 lexical causative verbs of creation. The most
frequently occurring verbs were: to create (5 times), to write (5 times), to invent (4 times), to
paint (4 times).
Let`s have a look at the following examples:
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(1) An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into
them. (Wilde 2004:17)
(2) Finally, he went over to the table, and wrote a passionate letter to the girl he had loved,
imploring her forgiveness (…). (Wilde 2004:120)
(3) Lady Narborough kept scolding him for what she called “an insult to poor Adolphe,
who invented the menu especially for you” (…). (Wilde 2004:220)
(4) One day, a fatal day I sometimes think, I determined to paint a wonderful portrait
of you as you actually are, not in the costume of dead ages, but in your own dress and
in your own time. (Wilde 2004: 144)
The ergative transformation is typical of all the four given sentences because all of them
have intransitive counterparts:
(1a) An artist creates.
(3a) He is inventing.
(2a) He is writing.
(4a) He is painting.
In the novel the author used the expression to fashion, which means “to design or make
something”.
Consider:
He was a marvelous type, too, this lad, whom by so curious a chance he had met in
Basil`s studio; or could be fashioned into a marvellous type, at any rate. (Wilde 2004:
48)
Other lexical verbs of creation which were used in the novel included: to carve, to draw,
to built, to produce.
3.2.6 The suppletive pairs of lexical causative verbs
The suppletive pairs of verbs like to kill and to die, to drop and to fall, to persuade and to
believe imply that different verb lexemes take part in the ergative transformation. In the novel by
O. Wilde there were quite a number of cases where the verbs that form suppletive pairs were
used. The most frequently occurring verb was to kill (17 times).
Let`s consider the following example:
I once wore nothing but violets all through one season, as a form of artistic mourning
for a romance that would not die. Ultimately, however, it did die. I forget what killed
it. I think it was her proposing to sacrifice the whole world for me. (Wilde
2004:127)
39
In the above sentence we have two verbs that form a supletive pair, i.e. a transitive verb to
kill and its intransitive variant, the verb to die.
In the corpus examined there were verbs which were synonymous with the verb to kill
and, therefore, they formed suppletive pairs with the verb to die. Those verbs included the
following: to slay, to murder, to shoot, to strangle.
Consider:
(1) With subtle and finely wrought temperaments it is always so. Their strong
passions must either bruise or bend. They either slay the man, or themselves die. (Wilde
2004:190)
(2) “So I have murdered Sybil Vane“, said Dorian Gray, half to himself, “murdered
her as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife.” (Wilde 2004:124)
(3) (…) Sigismondo Malatesta, the lover of Isotta, and the lord of Rimini, whose effigy
was burned at Rome as the enemy of God and man, who strangled Polysena with a
napkin (…). (Wilde 2004:182)
In sentence (1) we have a suppletive pair which consists of the verbs to slay and to die.
The verbs presented in the other two sentences also form suppletive pairs with the verb to die and
the following transformation of the sentences is possible:
(2a) So I have caused Sybil Vane to die (…). (The result is that Sybil Vane died.)
(3a) Sigismondo Malatesta (…) caused Polysena to die. (The result is that Polysena died.)
As can be seen from the examples, the sentences take part in the ergative transformation.
The verbs to kill, to slay, to murder, to shoot, to strangle, which are used transitively, express the
result implicitly while the verb to die, which is used intransitively, expresses the explicit result.
Wilde used some other verbs that form suppletive pairs and participate in the ergative
transformation. Those verbs included such verbs as: to convince, to persuade and to assure. They
usually occurred in a suppletive pair with the verb to believe.
Consider the following examples:
(1) Besides, he had convinced himself that he had been the victim of a terror-stricken
imagination, and looked back now on his fears with something of pity and not a little of
contempt. (Wilde 2004: 249)
(2)”Don't let us talk about it any more, and don't try to persuade me that the first good
action I have done for years, the first little bit of self-sacrifice I have ever known, is
really a sort of sin”. (Wilde 2004:262)
(3) When he saw me, he made me a low bow and assured me that I was a munificent
40
patron of art. (Wilde 2004:68)
All in all, in the corpus examined there were 38 verbs that form suppletive pairs with their
intransitive variants.
For the frequency of verbs formed by lexical means, see Appendix 2 (Table 2 and Figure
2).
3.3. The syntactic mechanism
As has been mentioned in the theoretical part, the syntactic mechanism includes
causative verbs followed by a nominalized direct object, a resulting attribute and a complex
object as well as causal connectives which are used to express causation at the sentence and text
level.
3.3.1 Causative verbs followed by a nominalized direct object
In the corpus examined the author used a rather small number of causative verbs which
were followed by nouns, noun phrases or pronouns. In the sentence these nouns, noun phrases
and pronouns function as nominalized direct objects. The verbs which belong to this group and
occurred in the novel included the following: to give rise to (2 times), to cause (2 times), to force
(2 times), to depend on (1 time).
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) Often, on returning home from one of those mysterious and prolonged absences
that gave rise to such strange conjecture among those who were his friends, or thought
that they were so, he himself would creep upstairs to the locked room, open the door
with the key that never left him now, and stand, with a mirror, in front of the portrait
that Basil Hallward had painted of him (…). (Wilde 2004:160)
(2) (…) some little distance away, was sitting the artist himself, Basil Hallward, whose
sudden disappearance some years ago caused, at the time, such public excitement and
gave rise to so many strange conjectures. (Wilde 2004:5)
In sentence (1) and (2) the causative verb to give rise to is followed by the noun phrase
strange conjecture. The verb to cause in sentence (2) is followed by the noun phrase public
excitement.
Let`s consider some more examples with causative verbs followed by nouns and pronouns:
(1) Finally, after vainly trying to force the door, they got on the roof and dropped down
to the balcony. (Wilde 2004:277)
41
(2) Don`t take away from me the one person who gives to my art whatever charm it
possesses: my life as an artist depends on him. (Wilde 2004:21)
In the first example the verb to force is followed by the noun the door while in the second
example the verb to depend on is followed by the personal pronoun him.
3.3.2 Causative verbs followed by a resulting attribute
One more group of syntactic causative verbs includes verbs which are followed by
adjectival phrases. These phrases express a resulting state and are called by Quirk et al
(1972:350) resulting attributes.
In the corpus examined the most frequent verb belonging to this group was the verb to
make. In the novel it occurred 49 times.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) He watched it with that strange interest in trivial things that we try to develop when
things of high import make us afraid (…). (Wilde 2004:32)
(2) (…) the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely
necessary for both parties. (Wilde 2004:9)
As can be seen from the examples, the verb to make is followed by the resulting attributes
afraid and necessary which denote a resulting state.
In the novel Wilde used two more verbs that were followed by resulting attributes.
Consider:
(1) According to the great alchemist, Pierre de Boniface, the diamond rendered a
man invisible (…). (Wilde 2004:169)
(2) Then he thrust the door open and entered. (Wilde 2004:258)
In the given sentences the causative verbs to render and to thrust are followed by the
resulting attributes invisible and open which express the result of the action.
3.3.3 Causative verbs followed by a complex object
There was a group of causative verbs that were followed by the objective infinitive or
participle construction, which consists of a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the
objective case and the infinitive or participle. In the sentence this construction has the function of
a complex object. In this case, according to Comrie (1981:160), causative relations are expressed
with the help of two predicates; one of the predicates encodes the notion of cause and the other
42
the notion of result. According to Wolff`s force dynamic model of causation22, this group of
causative verbs is divided into three main categories: cause-type, enable-type and prevent-type
verbs.
Cause-type verbs
Cause-type verbs are characterized by Wolff as showing the opposition between the
causer of the action and the causee. However, a certain result occurs despite the fact that there is
the opposition.
In the novel, the most frequently occurring cause-type verbs were to make which was
followed by the bare infinitive and to induce followed by the to-infinitive phrase. The
constructions which included the verb to make were used by O. Wilde 41 times and the verb to
induce – 3 times.
Let`s have a look at the following examples:
(1) I had a strange feeling that fate had in store for me exquisite joys and exquisite
sorrows. I grew afraid and turned to quit the room. It was not conscience that made
me do so: it was a sort of cowardice. (Wilde 2004:12)
(2) I don't know what Harry has been saying to you, but he has certainly made you
have the most wonderful expression. (Wilde 2004:28)
(3) What on earth induced her to behave as she did, I never could understand. She
could have married anybody she chose. (Wilde 2004:45)
The above examples show that the causer of the action has certain power or authority
over the causee and therefore the causee is obliged to perform the action.
Other verbs which belong to this category and were used by the author of the novel
included the following: to force, to lure, to will, to bother, to lull. Those verbs were followed by
the to-infinitive phrase.
Consider:
(1) In doing what I am going to do-what you force me to do- it is not of your life that
I am thinking. (Wilde 2004: 214)
(2) Half the charm of the little village where he had been so often lately was that no
one knew who he was. He had often told the girl whom he had lured to love him that
he was poor, and she had believed him. (Wilde 2004:272)
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43
(3) These common rough people, with their coarse faces and brutal gestures, become
quite different when she is on the stage. They sit silently and watch her. They weep
and laugh as she wills them to do. (Wilde 2004:102)
(4) Women treat us just as humanity treats its gods. They worship us, and are always
bothering us to do something for them. (Wilde 2004:99)
(5) There were opiates for remorse, drugs that could lull the moral sense to sleep.
(Wilde 2004:120)
In the novel O. Wilde used one construction in which the verb to cause was followed by
the participle. Again, this construction emphasizes the authority of the causer of the action.
Consider:
He hated to be separated from the picture that was such a part of his life, and was also
afraid that during his absence some one might gain access to the room, in spite of the
elaborate bars that he had caused to be placed upon the door. (Wilde 2004:175)
In the corpus examined there were 5 cases when the cause-type verb to force was used in
the passive and followed by the to-infinitive phrase. It can be illustrated by the following
examples:
(1) Alan Campbell had shot himself one night in his laboratory, but had not revealed
the secret that he had been forced to know. (Wilde 2004:274)
(2) And how strange it was that, instead of having been forced to reveal his own secret,
he had succeeded, almost by chance, in wrestling a secret from his friend! (Wilde
2004:147)
These constructions, like the previously analysed ones, indicate that a person who has a
certain degree of power or influence made somebody perform the action.
The verbs “to have” and “to get”
Although it is considered by many linguists that the verbs to have and to get are the two
most frequently occurring cause-type verbs, in the corpus examined they were not marked by
high frequency of occurrence. The verb to have followed by the bare infinitive was used only
once.
Consider the following dialogue between Lord Henry and the Duchess:
”You don’t like your country, then?” she asked.
“I live in it.”
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“That you may censure it the better.”
“Would you have me take the verdict of Europe on it?” he inquired. (Wilde 2004:242).
The construction with the verb to have indicates that the embedded subject was or will be
selected by the subject of the main clause to perform a service.
The verb to get followed by the to-infinitive phrase was used by O. Wilde 3 times.
For instance:
(1) They said Kelso got some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult his
son-in-law in public-paid him, sir, to do it, paid him-and that the fellow spitted his
man as if he had been a pigeon. (Wilde 2004: 44)
(2) He remembered that Lord Henry had said to him once, half seriously and half in
jest, “If you want to have a strange quarter of an hour, get Basil to tell you why he
won't exhibit your picture.” (Wilde 2004:142)
In sentence (1) the verb to get conveys the idea that the subject of the embedded clause
performed the action only after the subject of the main clause had used persuasion to achieve the
desired result. Sentence (2) implies that there may be some difficulty involved in persuading the
subject of the embedded clause to perform the action.
In the novel the verbs to have and to get were more frequently followed by participles
than the to-infinitive phrases. The verb to have occurred in such a construction 3 times while the
verb to get – 6 times.
Consider the following examples:
(1) “I asked her whether like Marguerite de Navarre, she had their hearts embalmed
and hung at her girdle. She told me she didn't, because none of them had had any hearts
at all.” (Wilde 2004:221)
(2) “You remind me of a story Harry told me about a certain philanthropist who spent
twenty years of his life in trying to get some grievance redressed, or some unjust law
altered- forget exactly what it was.” (Wilde 2004:138)
The construction which contains the verb to have followed by an object and a participle
implies that the subject of the main clause selected the embedded subject to perform some
service, as it is illustrated by sentence (1). Sentence (2) clearly demonstrates that a lot of effort
was required to carry out the action.
Enable-type verbs
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Enable-type verbs illustrate the causee`s tendency for a result. The causer helps the causee
to realize this tendency and achieve the result. In the corpus examined enable-type verbs were not
so numerous (there were only 11 of them). The most frequently occurring verb was to let
followed by the bare infinitive (9 times). The two other verbs were to allow and to enable
followed by the to-infinitive phrase.
Let`s have a look at the following examples:
(1) To project one's soul into some gracious form, and let it tarry there for a
moment; to hear one`s own intellectual views echoed back to one (...). (Wilde 2004:47)
(2) The portrait must be hidden away at all costs. He could not run such a risk of
discovery again. It had been mad of him to have allowed the thing to remain, even
for an hour, in a room to which any of his friends had access. (Wilde 2004:147)
(3) He paid some attention to the management of his collieries in the Midland counties,
excusing himself for this taint of industry on the ground that the one advantage of having
coal was that it enabled a gentleman to afford the decency of burning wood on his own
hearth. (Wilde 2004:42)
The above sentences show that the causer enables the causee to produce a certain effect.
In the novel Wilde used 16 constructions in which the verbs to let and to allow were
negated. Such constructions are called by Wolff and Song23 negated causal patterns.
Consider the following examples:
(1) “When you were away from me you were still present in my art… Of course I
never let you know anything about this. (Wilde 2004:143)
(2) “(…) I will destroy it. What is it but canvas and colour? I will not let it come across
our three lives and mar them.” (Wilde 2004:37)
(3) “I felt, Dorian, that I had told too much, that I had put too much of myself into it.
then it was that I resolved never to allow the picture to be exhibited. (Wilde
2004:144)
(4) He felt that the man must be got rid of at once. He must not be allowed to know
were the picture was being taken to. (Wilde 2004:150)
As can be seen from the above examples, the verbs to let and to allow occur in
combination with the adverb never and the particle not. In this case no change in the causee
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46
occurs because of the causer`s intervention. This type of causation is called by Wolff and Song24
prohibitive.
.
Prevent-type verbs
In the case of prevent-type verbs the causee`s tendency for a result is opposed by certain
phenomena and consequently the result does not occur, which means that causation is prohibitive.
In the corpus examined the verbs which belong to this group were not characterized by
high frequency of occurrence as there were only five sentences in which they were used.
Consider:
(1) Women, as some witty Frenchman once put it, inspire us with the desire to do
masterpieces and always prevent us from carrying them out. (Wilde 2004:100)
(2) It is not my fault that this terrible tragedy has prevented my doing what was right.
(Wilde 2004:125)
As can be seen from the above examples, the verb to prevent followed by the participial
phrase indicates that the result did not occur.
For the frequency of syntactic causative verbs, see Appendix 3 (Table 3 and Figure 3).
3.4 The role of connectives in expressing causation at the sentence level
The cause at the sentence level, i.e. within the boundaries of one sentence, can be
expressed by a number of connectives which include subordinating conjunctions, coordinating
conjunctions, correlative conjunctions and modifiers, conjunctive adverbs, prepositional and
conjunctive phrases, prepositions.
3.4.1 Subordinating conjunctions
As already mentioned, there are three types of subordinating conjunctions that are used to
mark the cause. They include causal, temporal and conditional subordinating conjunctions.
Causal conjunctions
In the corpus examined causal subordinating conjunctions which include such
conjunctions as because, as and for were the most frequent and they occurred in the novel 61
times.
24
Retrieved from: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~pwolff/papers/WolffForceDyn.pdf
47
The conjunction because was marked by the highest frequency and it was used in the
novel 38 times.
Consider the following examples:
(1) Lord Fermor, a genial if somewhat rough-mannered old bachelor, whom the outside
world called selfish because it derived no particular benefit from him (…) (Wilde
2004:42)
(2) We think that we are generous because we credit our neighbour with the
possession of those virtues that are likely to be a benefit to us. (Wilde 2004:94)
The examples show that the subordinate clause which is introduced by the conjunction
because expresses the cause while the main clause encodes the result.
There were a few cases in the novel when the conjunction because linked a few clauses
and occurred twice or thrice in one and the same sentence. It was used by the author to give
greater emphasis to the subordinate clause which described the events that served as the cause of
a particular situation or behaviour.
Consider:
(1) “Never marry al all, Dorian. Men marry because they are tired; women, because
they are curious; both are disappointed.” (Wilde 2004:61)
(2) I loved you because you were marvellous, because you had genius and intellect,
because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the
shadows of art. (Wilde 2004:109)
There was one case in the novel when the conjunction because was preceded by the
particle not.
Consider:
“You ask me why Berwick leaves a room when I enter it. It is because I know
everything about his life, not because he knows anything about mine.” (Wilde 2004:
188)
The first sentence of the above example expresses the result. In the second sentence the
clause introduced by the conjunction because which is preceded by the particle not expresses
negation. It contrasts with the preceding clause which expresses the real cause of certain
behaviour.
Another causal conjunction used by Wilde was the conjunction as. It occurred in the
novel 12 times.
Consider the following examples:
48
(1) Indeed, the probabilities are that the more insincere the man is, the more purely
intellectual will the idea be, as in that case it will not be coloured by either his wants,
his desires, or his prejudices. (Wilde 2004:15)
(2) He had two large town houses, but preferred to live in chambers, as it was less
trouble, and took most of his meals at his club. (Wilde 2004:42)
The examples demonstrate that the conjunction as occurs in the initial position of the
subordinate clause and introduces the cause of the situation. In the above examples the
subordinate clause occupies final position in the sentence.
There were two cases in the novel when as was preceded by other conjunctions.
Let`s have a look at the following examples:
(1) “I am quite content with philosophic contemplation. But, as the nineteenth century
has gone bankrupt through an over-expenditure of sympathy, I would suggest that we
should appeal to science to put us straight.” (Wilde 2004:53)
(2) She was usually in love with somebody, and, as her passion was never
returned, she had kept all her illusions. (Wilde 2004:59)
In example (1) the second sentence which is introduced by the conjunction but contrasts
with the preceding sentence. The subordinate clause of the second sentence, which is introduced
by the conjunction as, encodes the cause and the main clause expresses the result. In example (2)
the conjunction as is preceded by and. The conjunction and serves as a kind of link between the
clause preceding the subordinate clause introduced by as and the one that follows it. The
examples also demonstrate that the subordinate clause introduced by as can occur in the initial
position of the sentence.
Another causal conjunction occurring in the novel was for, which was used by Wilde 11
times.
Consider the following examples:
(1) The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification.
(Wilde 2004:26)
(2) Dim and wavering as was the wind-blown light, yet it served to show him the
hideous error, as it seemed, into which he had fallen, for the face of the man he had
sought to kill had all the bloom of boyhood, all the unstained purity of youth. (Wilde
2004:237)
49
As can be seen from the examples, the clause expressing the result precedes the clause
encoding the cause. The causal conjunction for occurs in the initial position of the subordinate
clause and the subordinate clause is used in sentence final position.
The conjunction since is also used to introduce the clauses expressing the cause, however,
there were no examples with this conjunction in the examined novel.
The replacement of subordinate clauses expressing cause by participial phrases
The non-finite clauses which contain present, past and perfect participles are used to
express the cause. Such non-finite constructions can replace the subordinate clauses which
contain conjunctions as, because and since.
In the corpus examined there were 6 non-finite constructions expressing the cause.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) There he paused, hearing the slow heavy tread of the policeman on the pavement
outside and seeing the flash of the bull's-eye reflected in the window. (Wilde 2004:
200)
(2) There he stopped, feeling afraid to turn round, and his eyes fixed themselves on
the intricacies of the pattern before him. (Wilde 2004: 216)
The examples illustrate the expression of the cause by non-finite clauses which contain
present participles. This type of construction prevailed in the novel (it occurred 5 times). The
examples can be paraphrased in the following way:
(1) He paused because he heard the slow heavy tread of the policemen on the
pavement and saw the flash (…).
(2) He stopped because he felt afraid to turn round (…).
There was one example of the non-finite construction containing the past participle.
Consider:
Dorian's arms fell to his side. Paralysed with terror, he did not know what to do. (Wilde
2004:208)
The sentence can be paraphrased in the following way:
He did not know what to do because he was paralysed with terror.
In the novel there were no examples of the non-finite causative constructions containing
perfect participles.
Temporal conjunctions used to express cause
50
Temporal conjunctions that were used to express cause included the conjunctions when
and after. When was more frequent and it occurred 11 times while after was used 3 times.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) Men who talked grossly became silent when Dorian Gray entered the room. (Wilde
2004:160)
(2) “When you and he ceased to be great friends, he ceased to be a great artist.”
(Wilde 2004: 265)
The above sentences have a causative meaning as they can be paraphrased in the following way:
(1a) Men who talked grossly became silent because Dorian Gray entered the room.
(2a) He ceased to be a great artist because you and he ceased to be great friends.
Examples (1) and (2) show that the clause expressing the cause can either follow or
precede the clause expressing the result. It means that the subordinate clause introduced by the
conjunction when can occur in sentence final and initial position.
Let`s consider the following example with the conjunction after which can also mark the cause:
“Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us
everything, even our intellects. You will never ask me to dinner again after saying this
(…)”. (Wilde 2004:223)
The sentence can be paraphrased in the following way:
(…) You will never ask me to dinner because I have said this (…).
Conditional “if” used to express cause
In the novel there were 9 examples of the conjunction if which was used to mark the
cause.
Consider:
Women, who had wildly adored him and for his sake had braved all social censure
and set convention at defiance, were seen to grow pallid with shame or horror if Dorian
Gray entered the room. (Wilde 2004:177)
The above sentence can also be paraphrased using the causal conjunction because.
Consider:
Women (…) grew pallid with shame or horror because Dorian Gray entered the room.
There were a few examples in the novel when if is preceded by the conjunction and.
Consider the following sentences:
(1) “Parker has brought out the drinks, and if you stay any longer in this glare, you
51
will be quite spoiled (…)”. (Wilde 2004:30)
(2) And if you keep it always behind a screen, you can't care much about it. (Wilde
2004:142)
The sentences show that the subordinate clause expressing the cause can either follow or
precede the main clause expressing the result.
3.4.2 Coordinating conjunctions
In the corpus examined we found 36 coordinating conjunctions that linked the clauses of
cause and result. The conjunction and was marked by the highest frequency as it occurred in the
novel 17 times.
Consider the following examples:
(1) The wind shook some blossoms from the trees, and the heavy lilac-blooms, with
their clustering stars, moved to and fro in the languid air. (Wilde 2004:11)
(2) You come down here to console me. That is charming of you. You find me
consoled, and you are furious. (Wilde 2004:138)
(3) His hand shook, and the candle fell from its socket on the floor and lay there
sputtering. (Wilde 2004:196)
These examples demonstrate that the clauses of cause precede the clauses of result. The
conjunction and indicates that the event in the second clause is the consequence of the event in
the first clause and serves as a link between the two types of clauses.
The conjunction so was used 14 times in the novel.
Consider:
(1)”I like the Duchess very much, but I don't love her.”
“And the duchess loves you very much, but she likes you less, so you are excellently
matched.” (Wilde 2004: 254)
(2) “I believe there is no society of any kind in the Colonies-nothing that I would call
society-so when you have made your fortune, you must come back and assert
yourself in London.” (Wilde 2004:80)
The conjunction so introduces the clause of result and links it to the preceding clause of
cause.
There were 5 examples in the novel when the conjunction so co-occurred with the
conjunction and.
Consider:
52
(1) The moment she touched actual life, she marred it, and it marred her, and so she
passed away. (Wilde 2004:129)
(2) In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and
so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place.
(Wilde 2004:18)
The combination and so was used to indicate that one event resulted from the other one.
3.4.3 Correlative conjunctions and modifiers
In the novel there were 11 sentences involving the correlative conjunction so…that. The
sentences of this type also encoded the notions of cause and result.
Consider the following examples:
(1) It was a lovely night, so warm that he threw his coat over his arm and did not even
put his silk scarf round his throat. (Wilde 2004:272)
(2) Lady Ruxton, an overdressed woman of forty-seven, with a hooked nose, who was
always trying to get herself compromised, but was so peculiarly plain that to her great
disappointment no one would ever believe anything against her (…). (Wilde
2004:220)
These sentences can be paraphrased with the help of subordinate causal conjunctions:
(1) He threw his coat over his arm (…) because it was a warm lovely night.
(2) No one would ever believe anything against Lady Ruxton (…) because she was
peculiarly plain.
In the corpus examined there were 3 sentences containing the modifier too followed by
an adjective and the to-infinitive phrase.
Consider:
“You are too charming to go in for philanthropy, Mr. Gray-far too charming.” (Wilde
2004:23)
In this case the event does not happen because the person has an excessive amount of a
quality. The sentence can be paraphrased in the following way:
You shouldn`t go in for philanthropy, Mr. Gray, because you are too charming
3.4.4 Conjunctive adverbs
Causal relations can be expressed by such conjunctive adverbs as consequently, thus and
therefore. In the corpus examined there were 5 examples with the adverb consequently which co53
occurred with the conjunction and. The two other conjunctive adverbs did not occur in the novel.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly
uninteresting in what they are. (Wilde 2004:72)
(2) There has not been a scandal in the neighbourhood since the time of Queen
Elizabeth, and consequently they all fall asleep after dinner. (Wilde 2004: 219)
It can be seen from the above examples that in both sentences the first clause expresses
the cause and the clause introduced by the conjunctive adverb and consequently marks the effect.
Due to the fact that cause and effect are closely connected, this conjunctive adverb is included by
some linguists, e.g. Halliday (1976:256) into the group of causal connectives.
3.4.5 Prepositional and conjunctive phrases
Wilde used 19 prepositional and conjunctive phrases to mark the cause. In the corpus
examined the most frequent were prepositional and conjunctive phrases containing the noun
reason and they occurred in the novel 13 times. The most frequently used were prepositional
phrases for that reason and by reason of.
Let`s consider the following sentences:
(1) We have lost the abstract sense of beauty. Some day I will show the world what it is;
and for that reason the world shall never see my portrait of Dorian Gray. (Wilde
2004:18)
(2) His father (…) had retired from the diplomatic service in a capricious moment of
annoyance on not being offered the Embassy at Paris, a post to which he considered
that he was fully entitled by reason of his birth, his indolence, the good English of his
dispatches, and his inordinate passion for pleasure. (Wilde 2004:42)
(3) “I asked the question for the best reason possible, for the only reason, indeed,
that excuses one for asking any question - simple curiosity.” (Wilde 2004: 97)
In example (1) the clause expressing the cause precedes the clause that encodes the result
while in sentences (2) and (3) the clause expressing the cause is preceded by the result clause.
The author also used conjunctive phrases that contain the noun reason and mark the cause.
The most frequent of them were the reason that and the reason why.
Consider:
(1) The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it
the secret of my own soul. (Wilde 2004:10)
54
(2) England is bad enough, I know, and English society is all wrong. That is the reason
why I want you to be fine. (Wilde 2004:189)
Both sentences show that in the case of conjunctive phrases the result clause precedes the
clause that expresses the cause.
One more prepositional phrase that was used by Wilde in the novel is due to. It occurred 4
times in the corpus examined.
Consider the following examples:
(1) He told me once, with an air of pride, that his five bankruptcies were entirely due
to “The Bard” as he insisted on calling him. (Wilde 2004:68)
(2) The friend who had painted the fatal portrait to which all his misery had been due,
had gone out of his life. (Wilde 2004: 199)
Sentence (1) clearly shows that the noun which denotes the cause immediately follows the
prepositional phrase due to while in example (2) the word order is inverted and the noun that
marks the cause precedes the prepositional phrase due to.
3.4.6 Prepositions
In the corpus examined the following prepositions were used to mark the cause: for (17
times), by (4 times), at (4 times), from (2 times), through (2 times), with (2 times).
Let`s consider some examples with the preposition for, which had the highest frequency
of occurrence:
(1) “In the present case, what is it that has really happened? Some one has killed herself
for love of you.” (Wilde 2004: 127)
(2) It was a large, well-proportioned room, which had been specially built by the last
Lord Kelso for the use of the little grandson whom, for his strange likeness to his
mother, and also for other reasons, he had always hated and desired to keep at a
distance. (Wilde 2004:152)
(3) Had it not been for the red jagged tear in the neck and the clotted black pool that
was slowly widening on the table, one would have said that the man was simply asleep.
(Wilde 2004:198)
It is considered that the preposition for is mostly used with the nouns expressing feelings
which serve as the cause of certain behaviour.
55
Example (1) demonstrates the use of for with the nouns of feeling. Sentences (2) and (3)
show that for can occur with the nouns that denote certain features or phenomena of the physical
world.
There was one example in the novel where the preposition for occurred thrice in one
sentence.
Consider:
“I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters,
and my enemies for their good intellects.”(Wilde 2004:14)
Such a multiple occurrence of the preposition for lays greater emphasis on the cause which leads to certain
behaviour.
Let`s have a look at the following examples:
(1) She was an extraordinarily beautiful girl, Margaret Devereux, and made all the
men frantic by running away with a penniless young fellow (...). (Wilde 2004:44)
(2) You spoil my life as an artist by refusing, Dorian. (Wilde 2004:147)
The examples show that the preposition by followed by the gerund was used to express
the cause.
The preposition at can be followed both by the gerund and the noun phrase.
Consider:
(1) The lad listened sulkily to her and made no answer. He was heart-sick at leaving
home. (Wilde 2004:84)
(2) Dorian shook his head, and a look of annoyance passed over his face at the
mention of the word “inquest”. (Wilde 2004:139)
The preposition from was mainly used to mark the psychological cause. Two examples
from the examined novel perfectly illustrate this:
(1)Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest
motives. (Wilde 2004:93)
(2)”To see my soul!” muttered Dorian Gray, starting up from the sofa and turning almost
white from fear. (Wilde 2004: 190)
Let`s consider some examples with the preposition through:
(1) Through vanity he had spared her. In hypocrisy he had worn the mask of
goodness. (Wilde 2004: 276)
(2) Most people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of
life. (Wilde 2004:68)
56
The sentences show that the preposition through can be followed by the noun and the
gerund. In sentence (1) the person`s inner motive results in certain behaviour while in example
(2) the people`s action is the cause of a particular situation.
The following sentences demonstrate one more preposition used to express the cause:
(1) “What about Lord Kent's only son and his career? I met his father yesterday in St.
James's Street He seemed broken with shame and sorrow.” (Wilde 2004:188)
(2) It was to Paris that Basil had gone, and by the midnight train, as he had intended.
With his curious reserved habits, it would be months before any suspicions would be
roused. (Wilde 2004:200)
In the above sentences the preposition with followed by nouns was used to mark the inner
psychological cause.
For the frequency of causal connectives used to express causation at the sentence level,
see Appendix 4 (Table 4 and Figure 4).
3.5 The role of connectives in expressing causation at the text level
In the novel there were certain groups of connectives which link two or more separate
sentences encoding the notions of cause and result. These connectives enable the expression of
cause at the text level.
3.5.1 Subordinating conjunctions
The conjunction because was quite frequently used to express the cause at the text level.
Let`s consider the following example:
It is one of the best things I have ever done. And why is it so? Because, while I was painting it,
Dorian Gray sat beside me. (Wilde 2004:17)
The first sentence in the given example expresses the result and the sentence introduced
by the conjunction because expresses the cause. The cause is expressed by a separate sentence to
emphasize the significance of the idea expressed in this sentence.
Let`s have a look at another example:
“I want you to explain to me why you won`t exhibit Dorian Gray`s picture. I want the
real reason. “
“I told you the real reason”.
“No, you did not. You said it was because there was too much of yourself in it. Now,
that is childish.” (Wilde 2004:10)
57
In the above example the conjunction because links the sentence expressing the result to
the sentence encoding the cause.
Now let`s consider a short dialogue:
“There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray. All influence is immoralimmoral from the scientific point of view.”
“Why?”
“Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul.“ (Wilde 2004:25)
As can be seen from the example, the result is expressed by the first sentence of the
dialogue. The sentence introduced by the conjunction because expresses the cause and is a reply
to the question asked by the other participant. The conjunction because links the first and the last
sentences which express the result and the cause.
Another conjunction that is used to express the cause at the text level was the conjunction
for.
Consider:
(1) I thought how tragic it would be if you were wasted. For there is such a little time
that your youth will last - such a little time. (Wilde 2004:31)
(2) Even the cardinal virtues cannot atone for half-cold entrees, as Lord Henry
remarked once, in a discussion on the subject, and there is possibly a good deal lo be
said for his view. For the canons of good society are, or should be, the same as the
canons of art. (Wilde 2004:178)
It can be seen from examples (1) and (2) that in each case the result is expressed by the
first sentences which are followed by the sentences encoding the cause. The expression of the
cause by a separate sentence gives greater prominence to the idea contained in this sentence.
3.5.2 Coordinating conjunctions
In the corpus examined the coordinating conjunctions so and and so were used to mark
the cause at the text level.
Let`s consider the following example:
Lord Henry had not yet come in. He was always late on principle, his principle being
that punctuality is the thief of time. So the lad was looking rather sulky, as with listless
fingers he turned over the pages of an elaborately illustrated edition of Manon Lescaut
(…). (Wilde 2004: 58)
58
In the above example the conjunction so introduces the sentence that expresses the result
of the situation described by a few preceding sentences. The sentence introduced by the
conjunction so refers to the whole situation described before. So links the sentence expressing
the result to the preceding sentences expressing the cause. The use of separate sentences to
express the cause and result emphasizes the fact that the cause of the situation and the
consequences are of equal importance.
Let`s have a look at one more example:
He had been always enthralled by the methods of natural science, but the ordinary
subject-matter of that science had seemed to him trivial and of no import And so he
had begun by vivisecting himself, as he had ended by vivisecting others. (Wilde
2004:73)
In this example the conjunction so co-occurring with the conjunction and links the
sentence expressing the result with the previous one which encodes the cause. By dividing the
long construction into two, the author gives greater prominence to the second predication and
stresses the importance of the result of the situation.
3.5.3 Prepositional and conjunctive phrases
Wilde used a few conjunctive phrases to mark the cause at the text level. The phrases
included the following: that is the reason, that is exactly why and to come from the fact that.
Let`s consider the following examples:
(1) “Every night of my life I go to see her act and every night she is more marvellous.”
"That is the reason, I suppose, that you never dine with me now.” (Wilde 2004:69)
(2) “My dear boy,” said Lord Henry, smiling, “anybody can be good in the country.
There are no temptations there. That is the reason why people who live out of town
are so absolutely uncivilized.” (Wilde 2004: 260)
In example (1) the sentences that express the result and the cause were uttered by different
participants and the conjunctive phrase that is the reason which introduces the cause joins the
two sentences. In example (2) one person gives the cause and the result of the situation but, still,
the author uses separate sentences to express the cause and result. The expression of the cause by
a separate sentence gives greater prominence to the idea expressed by that sentence.
Let`s consider the example with the conjunctive phrase that is exactly why:
“Harry, don't talk like that. As long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate
me. You can't feel what I feel. You change too often.”
59
“Ah, my dear Basil, that is exactly why I can feel it. Those who are faithful know only the
trivial side of love: it is the faithless who know love's tragedies.” (Wilde 2004:19)
In this example the first participant expresses the result while the second one expresses the
cause. The conjunctive phrase that is exactly why was used to link the cause and effect.
Let`s have a look at one more example:
“But I can't help detesting my relations. I suppose it comes from the fact that none of
us can stand other people having the same faults as ourselves.” (Wilde 2004:14)
The conjunctive phrase to come from the fact that introduces the cause and at the same
time it links the sentence to the previous sentence which contains the consequence of the
situation. The separate sentence expressing the cause emphasizes the importance of the cause that
led to particular events.
In the novel the prepositional phrase due to is used to express the cause at the text level.
Consider:
“And you have sat splendidly today. I am awfully obliged to you.”
“That is entirely due to me,” broke in Lord Henry. (Wilde 2004: 34)
In this example the sentence that was uttered by the first speaker expresses the result. The
second speaker gives the cause which is introduced by the prepositional phrase due to. In this
case the result and the cause are linked with the help of the reference item, i.e. the demonstrative
pronoun that.
For the frequency of causal connectives used to express causation at the text level, see
Appendix 5 (Table 5 and Figure 5).
60
CONCLUSIONS
The analysis of the novel „The Picture of Dorian Gray“ by O.Wilde revealed that the
author used three formal mechanisms to realize causation:
1. the morphological mechanism;
2. the lexical mechanism;
3. the syntactic mechanism.
The results of the research have proved the hypothesis that the most frequent type of
causative expression are lexical causative verbs. They occurred 387 times and accounted for
49.11 per cent of the causative expressions used in the novel. In the corpus examined there were
76 causative verbs formed by means of the morphological mechanism and they accounted for
9.65 per cent. The syntactic means of expressing causation, which include syntactic causative
verbs and causal connectives, were used 325 times; they accounted for 41.24 per cent of all the
causative expressions.
The group of lexical causative verbs which occurred in the novel included the verbs of the
change of state, the verbs of the change of location, the verbs of light and sound emission, the
verbs of creation, stimulus-experiencer verbs and the suppletive pairs of verbs. The verbs of the
change of state had the highest frequency of occurrence. In the corpus examined they were used
189 times and accounted for 48.84 per cent of the lexical causatives. The most frequently used
change of state verbs included the verb to change and its synonyms and the verb to destroy and
its synonyms.
Two other classes of frequently occurring lexical causatives included stimulusexperiencer verbs which imply the change in the causee`s inner state and the verbs of the change
of location which denote the change of position. Stimulus-experiencer verbs and the verbs of the
change of location accounted for 14.73 and 13.44 per cent of the lexical causatives.
Among the verbs which belong to the morphological mechanism, the largest number of
causatives was constituted by verbs formed by means of conversion. They accounted for 60.53
per cent of the causative verbs formed by morphological means.
Syntactic causative verbs accounted for 42.46 per cent and causal connectives, 57.54 per
cent of the syntactic causative expressions
Syntactic causative verbs which were used in the novel included verbs followed by a
nominalized direct object, a resulting attribute and a complex object. The verbs followed by a
complex object prevailed in the novel and they accounted for 57.25 per cent of the syntactic
61
causative verbs. Syntactic causative verbs followed by a complex object are further subdivided
into cause-type, enable-type and prevent-type verbs, the most frequent of which are cause-type
verbs. They accounted for 79.75 per cent of the verbs followed by a complex object.
In the corpus examined there were causal connectives used to express causation at the
sentence level, i.e. within the boundaries of one sentence and at the text level, i.e. they connect
sentences which encode the cause and result. The following connectives were used to express
causation at the sentence level: subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, correlative
conjunctions and modifiers, conjunctive adverbs, prepositional and conjunctive phrases and
prepositions. They accounted for 87.7 per cent of the causal connectives used to express
causation at the sentence and text level. Subordinating conjunctions were the most frequently
used connectives to express causation at the sentence level and they accounted for 43.91 per cent.
Subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, prepositional and conjunctive phrases were used to
express causation at the text level and they accounted for 12.3 per cent of the causal connectives
used to express causation at both levels.
62
SANTRAUKA
Šis darbas nagrinėja kauzatyvumo raišką sakinio ir teksto lygmenyse O.Vaildo romane
„Doriano Grėjaus portretas“. Tyrimo tikslai buvo tokie:
1) išanalizuoti verbalinių konstrukcijų svarbą reiškiant kauzatyvumą sakinio lygmenyje;
2) išanalizuoti jungtukų svarbą reiškiant kauzatyvumą sakinio ir teksto lygmenyse;
3) ištirti kauzatyvinių konstrukcijų dažnumą.
Hipotezė buvo iškelta remiantis Wolff`o teiginiu, kad leksiniai kauzatyviniai
veiksmažodžiai pasižymi didesniu dažnumu negu kitos kauzatyvinės konstrukcijos.
Kauzatyvumo raiškos būdai O.Vaildo romane buvo nagrinėjami pasitelkiant aprašomąjįindukcinį ir statistinės analizės metodus.
Tyrimas parodė, kad autorius vartojo tris formalius mechanizmus kauzatyvumui reikšti:
1) morfologinį;
2) leksinį;
3) sintaksinį.
Kalbinių faktų analizė patvirtino hipotezę, kad leksiniai kauzatyviniai veiksmažodžiai
vartojami dažniau negu kitos kauzatyvumo raiškos priemonės: jie sudarė 49,11% visų
kauzatyvinių konstrukcijų. Sintaksinės kauzatyvinės konstrukcijos buvo vartojamos rečiau
(41,24%). Sintaksiniai kauzatyviniai veiksmažodžiai sudarė 17,51%, o kauzatyviniai jungtukai23,73%. Kauzatyviniai jungtukai buvo pavartoti išreikšti kauzatyvumui sakinio lygmenyje
(87,7%) ir teksto lygmenyje (12,3%). Mažiausiai rasta morfologizuotų kauzatyvinių
veiksmažodžių (9,65%).
63
REFERENCES
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_theory
65
Appendix 1
Table 1. The frequency of verbs formed by means of the morphological mechanism
Causative verbs formed by adding:
• prefixes
15 (19.74%)
• suffixes
11 (14.47%)
Causative verbs formed by means of conversion
46 (60.53%)
Causative verbs formed by means of vowel change
4 (5.26%)
46
50
40
30
26
20
10
4
0
Affixation
Conversion
Vowel change
Figure 1. The number of causative verbs formed by morphological means
66
Appendix 2
Table 2. The frequency of lexical causative verbs
Verbs of the change of state
189 (48.84%)
Verbs of creation
34 (8.79%)
Verbs of the change of location
52 (13.44%)
Verbs of emission:
• light
9
(2.33%)
• sound
8
(2.07%)
Stimulus-experiencer verbs
57 (14.73%)
The suppletive pairs of verbs
38 (9.8%)
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Verbs of the change of
state
189
Verbs of creation
Verbs of the change of
location
Verbs of emission
57
52
38
34
17
Stimulus-experiencer
verbs
The suppletive pairs of
verbs
Figure 2. The frequency of lexical causative verbs
67
Appendix 3
Table 3. The frequency of syntactic causative verbs
Causative verbs followed by a nominalized direct object
7 (5.79%)
Causative verbs followed by a resulting attribute
51 (36.96%)
Causative verbs followed by a complex object:
• cause-type verbs
63 (45.66%)
• enable-type verbs
11 (7.97%)
• prevent-type verbs
5 (3.62%)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
79
51
7
Causative verbs
followed by a
nominalized direct
object
Causative verbs
followed by a resulting
attribute
Causative verbs
followed by a complex
object
Figure 3. The frequency of syntactic causative verbs
68
Appendix 4
Table 4. The frequency of causal connectives that express causation at the sentence level
Subordinating conjunctions:
• causal
49 (29.88%)
• temporal
14 (8.54%)
• conditional
9
Coordinating conjunctions
33 (20.12%)
Correlative conjunctions and modifiers
14 (8.54%)
Conjunctive adverbs
5
(3.05%)
Prepositional and conjunctive phrases
9
(5.49%)
Prepositions
31 (18.89%)
80
Subordinating
conjunctions
72
70
Coordinating
conjunctions
60
Correrlative conjunctions
and modifiers
50
40
(5.49%)
33
31
Conjunctive adverbs
30
20
10
14
5
9
Prepositional and
conjunctive phrases
Prepositions
0
Figure 4. The frequency of causal connectives that express causation at the sentence level
69
Appendix 5
Table 5. The frequency of causal connectives that express causation at the text level
Subordinating conjunctions
12 (50%)
Coordinating conjunctions
2 (8.33%)
Conjunctive and prepositional phrases
10 (41.67%)
Conjunctive and
prepositional
phrases; 10
Subordinating
conjunctions;
12
Coordinating
conjunctions; 2
Figure 5. The frequency of causal connectives that express causation at the text level
70
Appendix 6
Table 6. The frequency of all causative expressions
The morphological mechanism
76 (9.65%)
The lexical mechanism
387 (49.11%)
The syntactic mechanism:
• syntactic causative verbs
138 (17.51%)
• causal connectives
187 (23.73%)
The syntactic
mechanism ;
325
The
morphological
mechanism; 76
The lexical
mechanism;
387
Figure 6. The frequency of all causative expressions
71