Causative Verbs
Causative Verbs¶
This is a concept that exists in most Indian languages, but is foreign to English. Having said that, the idea is quite simple.
ahaṃ gehaṃ karomi. (active verb)
I build a house.
ahaṃ thapatiṃ gehaṃ kāremi. (causative verb)
I cause a carpenter to build a house.
What is the object / accusative of the first sentence?
What is the object / accusative of the second sentence?
Transitive, Intransitive And Di-Transitive Verbs¶
Remember earlier we discussed transitive, intransitive and di-transitive verbs. Can you remember what they are?
When you make a verb into a causative,
1. intransitive verbs become transitive
2. transitive verbs become di-transitive
3. di-transitive verbs become multi-transitive (in theory anyway)
Example 1: Intransitive > Transitive¶
1. bhavati (active verb) “he is” is an intransitive verb which takes no object in the accusative case.
so bhikkhu bhavati
he is a monk
bhāveti (causative verb), literally “he causes to be”, is a transitive verb which takes one object in the accusative case
so mettacittaṃ bhāveti
he develops a friendly mind.
(lit. he causes a friendly mind to be.)
Example 2: Transitive > Di-Transitive¶
carati (active verb) “he walks” is transitive and takes one object in the accusative case
so gāmaṃ carati.
He walks to the village.
cāreti (causative verb) “he causes to walk” is di-transitive and takes two objects in the accusative case.
so naraṃ gāmaṃ cāreti.
He causes the man to walk to the village.
in this example, the instrumental case can also be used for the person who is caused to do the action.
so narena gāmaṃ cāreti.
He causes the man to walk to the village.
It makes no sense if you translate directly into English, so please be aware of this Pāli syntax.
Example 3: di-transitive > multi-transitive
siñcati is an example of a di-transitive verb, which takes two objects in the accusative case.
bhikkhu udakaṃ mattikaṃ siñceyya VIN PAT PC 20 (simpl)
A monk could pour water to the earth.
(In theory), when siñcati becomes causative, it can take three objects in the accusative case.
bhikkhu aññaṃ bhikkhuṃ udakaṃ mattikaṃ siñcāpeyya
A monk could cause another monk to pour water to the earth.
In reality, if you find even one example of that, please let us know =)
How To Form Causative Verbs¶
Causative Verbs are formed by adding suffixes to the root to create a causative base.
√pat 1 a (fall) + a > pata (active base) > patati
√pat + *e > pāte (causative base) > pāteti
√pat + *aya > pātaya (causative base) > pātayati
√pat + *āpe > pātāpe (causative base) > pātāpeti
ati + √pat + *āpaya > pātāpaya (causative base) > atipātāpayati
Notice that the vowel of the root gets strengthened, pat > pāt. This is a common feature of causative verbs if the vowel which can be strengthened is followed by a single consonant.
In summary:
- Root + *e > Causative Base
- Root + *aya > Causative Base
- Root + *āpe > Causative Base
- Root + *āpaya > Causative Base
Now, where have you seen the suffix -*e and -*aya being added to the root?
Group 8 Causative Verbs¶
√cud + *e > codeti (he accuses)
√cud + *aya > codayati (he accuses)
In the case of group 8 verbs, they only take the causative suffixes -āpe and -āpaya
√cud + *āpe > codāpeti (he causes to accuse)
√cud + *āpaya > codāpayati (he causes to accuse)
How To Decline Causative Verbs¶
Other than the base, the declension of causative verbs follows the normal pattern in all the tenses.
√pac + *āpe > pācāpe (causes to cook)
present: pācāpeti pācāpenti pācāpesi pācāpetha pācāpemi pācāpema
future: pācāpessati pācāpessanti pācāpessasi pācāpessatha pācāpessāmi pācāpessāma
imperative: pācāpetu pācāpentu pācāpehi pācāpetha pācāpemi pācāpema
optative: pācāpeyya pācāpeyyuṃ pācāpeyyāsi pācāpeyyātha pācāpeyyaṃ pācāpeyyāma pācāpeyyāmi
How would you decline √pac + *e > pāce
in the present?
in the future?
in the imperative?
in the optative?
How To Translate Causative Verbs¶
This can be tricky sometimes because if you translate every causative verb as “he causes someone to do something” or “he makes someone do something”, it can sound quite clumsy in English.
rājā dāse pāsādaṃ kārāpeti
The king causes the servants to build a mansion.
The king makes the servants build a mansion.
The king gets the servants to build a mansion.
The king has a mansion built by the servants.
Some causative verbs have natural English equivalents
√mar (die) + *e > māre > māreti
he causes to die = he kills
√sam (calm) + *e > sāme > sāmeti
he causes to calm = he stills, he calms
√bhū (be) + *e > bhāve > bhāveti
he causes to be = he develops, he cultivates