Desiderative - Causatives in Papago

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the analysis of what I will term "desiderative- causative" sentences in Papago. (1) is an example.1 (1) s- ñ- ko:sin 'at.; s ñ ko:s-im-c 'at; prefix-prefix- sleep- suffix -suffix Aux; 'I am sleepy.' (1) contains the causative suffix c and the desiderative suffix -im (which also requires the prefix s -), hence, the term desiderative- causative. Desiderative- causative sentences have characteristics which distinguish them both from the simple desiderative sentences, as in (2), and simple causatives, as in (3). (2) Mali:ya 'at s-ko:sim. Mary Aux s ko:s -im Mary Aux s: sleep:DESIDERATIVE 'Mary is sleepy' or more literally 'Mary desires to sleep.' (3) Mali:ya 'at ko:sc g 'ali.; Mary Aux ko:s -c g 'ali; Mary Aux sleep-CAUSATIVE determiner baby; 'Mary made the child go to sleep.' First, the subject possibilities in desiderative- causatives are exceedingly limited and distinct from those allowed in either simple desideratives or simple causatives. Second the semantic conditions which the verbs places on its associated arguments in desiderative- causative sentences must be distinguished from those in simple desideratives or simple causatives. An examination, therefore, of the simple desiderative and the simple causative on the one hand and the desiderative- causative on the other will suggest the idiosyncracies of the latter, However, I will argue that the properties of the desiderative- causative, in regard to the subject possibilities and the conditions on arguments, is a natural consequence of the combination of the requirements imposed in the simple desiderative and the simple causative.