AV短视频

Does complex syntax always mean complex semantics?
A closer look at French Faire-Que constructions

French syntactic causative constructions exhibit a variety of forms, including Faire-Infinitive (FI), Faire-Par (FP), Exceptional Case Marking (ECM) constructions (under strict constraints, see Abeillé et al. 1997), and Faire-Que (FQ). This talk explores the semantic and syntactic distinctions between FIs (the default and all-purpose syntactic causatives in French), and FQs, with a particular focus on the differences between various FQ types.

(1)   Jean fait                      pleurer Marie.                                                FI

Jean make.prs.3sg     cry.inf Marie.

‘Jean makes Marie cry.’

(2)   a. Jean             fait                  en sorte           que Marie pleure.                   FQ

    Jean make.prs.3sg             in sort              that Marie cry.sbjv

    ‘Jean makes so that Marie would cry.’

b. Jean fait                  que      Marie pleure.

    Jean make.prs.3sg             that      Marie cry.ind

    ‘Jean causes Marie to cry.’

FIs are typically understood as simple constructions, where the light verb faire combines with a non-finite verb to form a complex predicate. In contrast, FQs realize more complex syntactic structures, with faire functioning as a full lexical verb selecting a CP complement. This difference raises important questions regarding the semantics of these constructions. It has been argued that more complex syntactic structures correspond to more intricate meanings. Following Givón (1980) and Wurmbrand & Lohninger (2023), more integrated complements are expected to (i) encode events with minimal separation, in which (ii) the Causer exerts a stronger influence on both the Causee and the caused event, leading to (iii) a higher likelihood of the caused event occurring. However, the contrast between (2a) and (2b) suggests that FQs involve subtle semantic distinctions that warrant further investigation. This talk provides an analysis of these distinctions and their implications for the relationship between syntax and semantics in causative constructions.