Abstract
The meaning of causative sentences has been analyzed from various perspectives, a well-known analysis being the differentiation between “coercion” and “permission”. This paper takes a different viewpoint and proposes the concepts of “tsukaidate” (exploitation) and “michibiki” (guidance). This interpretation does not reject the “coercion” and “permission” interpretation but rather shows the following: a recognition of the relationship with the lexical meaning of the original verb (in particular, the categorical meaning), grammatical features characterizing the respective causative sentences, and grammatical phenomena that can be explained by this interpretation. Examples will be used to illustrate these features and to elucidate the potential significance and implications of this interpretation. Finally, on the relationship between “coercion & permission” and “tsukaidate & michibiki,” it is proposed that the former interpretation focuses on the “preceding phase/causal phase” and the latter on the “succeeding phase/resulting phase” of the respective causative events.
