1 Introduction

1.1 Properties of English make causatives

Pesetsky (1995) notes that make causatives taking a DP subject, an experiencer, and an adjective describing the experiencer’s psychological state allow backward binding, as shown in 1a–c (taken from Pesetsky 1995, pp. 43–44).

  1. (1)

    a. Each otheri + j’s remarks made Johni and Maryj angry.

    b. Pictures of each otheri made usi happy.

    c. These stories about herselfi made Maryi nervous.

This behavior poses a challenge to the well-known c-command condition on anaphoric binding (Chomsky 1981, 1986), given that the boldfaced anaphors in 1a–c are not c-commanded by their corresponding boldfaced antecedents, i.e., the experiencers.

An additional property of make causatives not discussed (to our knowledge) in previous studies is their ability to take a clausal subject along with an experiencer and an adjective describing his/her psychological state (2a). These constructions have expletive variants (2b, d) that also permit backward binding by the experiencer (2c).Footnote 1

  1. (2)

    a. [CP That Bill had arrived] made John angry.

    b. It made John angry [CP that Bill had arrived].

    c. [CP That hei was criticized by hisi teacher] made no boyi angry.

    d. It made no boyi angry [CP that hei was criticized by hisi teacher].

Interestingly, this constellation is not found with superficially similar make causatives involving a non-experiencer and a non-psych adjective. Compare 3–5, where the postverbal DP is not an experiencer and the AP does not describe a psychological state.

  1. (3)

    a. [CP That he was driving] made John responsible/culpable (for the accident).

    b. *It made John responsible/culpable (for the accident) [CP that he was driving].

    c. *[That hei was driving] made no boyi responsible/culpable.

  1. (4)

    a. [CP That his patient canceled] made John available/free/accessible.

    b. *It made John available/free/accessible [CP that his patient canceled].

    c. *[That hisi patient canceled] made no doctori available/free/accessible.

  1. (5)

    a. [CP That its edge was dull] made the tool useful/useless/useable.

    b. *It made the tool useful/useless/useable [CP that its edge was dull].

    c. *[That itsi edge was dull] made no tooli useful/useless/useable.

Note furthermore that it is the postverbal DP that must denote an experiencer if expletive variants and backward binding are to be enabled. 6a shows a non-experiencer (working) with an adjective (difficult) that indirectly invokes the experiencer (us). Expletive and backward binding variants remain odd in this case (6b–c).

  1. (6)

    a. [CP That the temperature was high] made working difficult (for us).

    b. ??It made working difficult (for us) [CP that the temperature was high].

    c. ??[That hisi teacher was present] made speaking difficult for no boyi.

As elsewhere, occurrence of an expletive it subject requires a CP correlate. Thus, although non-expletive DP subjects are possible (7a) and allow backward binding into them (7b), they do not have expletive variants (7c).

  1. (7)

    a. [DP That fact] made John angry.

    b. [Pictures of himselfi] made no boyi angry.

    c. *It made John angry [DP that fact].

Note finally that the possibility of non-expletive DP subjects creates potential ambiguity in make causatives with psych adjectives. Thus, 8a has a reading on which it is pleonastic and that Bill had arrived denotes the source (or cause) of John’s state of happiness, identically to 8b.Footnote 2 But 8a has an additional reading on which it is referential and the CP is a complement of the psych adjective happy, describing the content of John’s happiness-state. Under the latter reading, it refers to the source (or cause) and can be replaced by a DP (8c) or a CP (8d).

  1. (8)

    a. It made John happy that Bill had arrived.

    b. [CP That Bill had arrived] made John happy.

    c. [DP That (event)] made John happy [CP that Bill had arrived].

    d. [CP That Mary was drunk] made John happy [CP that Bill had arrived].

1.2 Properties of shǐ causatives in Mandarin

Mandarin 使 shǐ 'make' causatives both resemble and diverge from English make causatives. They permit a clausal subject, an experiencer, and a psych adjective, where the subject is a CP (9a) or a DP (9b). As in English, the subject is construed as the source (or cause) of Zhangsan’s anger-state (cf. 2a).Footnote 3

  1. (9)

    a. [CP 瑪麗突然離開]使張三很生氣。

    mǎlì__tūrán__líkāi__shǐ__zhāngsān__hěn__shēngqì

    Mary__suddenly__leave__make__Zhangsan__very__angry

    That Mary had suddenly left made Zhangsan very angry.

    b. [DP 這件事]使張三很生氣。

    zhè__jiàn__shì__shǐ__zhāngsān__hěn__shēngqì

    this__CL__matter__make__Zhangsan__very__angry

    This matter made Zhangsan very angry.

That Mandarin shǐ causatives can take a CP or DP subject is corroborated by corpus data: 10a–d show that shǐ causatives with experiencers and psych adjectives can take CP subjects, and 11a–d show that shǐ causatives can take DP subjects.Footnote 4

  1. (10)

    a. [CP 中國申奧成功]使他非常振奮。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    zhōngguó__shēn’ào__chénggōng__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__zhènfèn

    China__bid-Olympic__successfully__make__him__very__excited

    That China won the Olympic bid made him feel very excited.

    b. [CP 惡耗傳來]使他非常震驚。(Contemporary Chinese Corpus 1998)

    èhào__chuánlái__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__zhènjīng

    terrible-news__come__make__him__very__shocked

    That the terrible news came made him feel very shocked.

    c. [CP 國王遜位]使弗朗索瓦絲十分激動。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    guówáng__xùnwèi__shǐ__fúlǎngsuǒwǎsī__shífēn__jīdòng

    king__abdicate__make__François__very__agitated

    That the king abdicated made François very agitated.

  1. (11)

    a. [DP 席慕蓉的用功]常常使我慚愧。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    xímùróng__de__yònggōng__chángcháng__shǐ__wǒ__cánkuì

    Ximurong__DE__diligence__often__make__me__ashamed

    Ximurong’s diligence often made me feel ashamed.

    b. [DP 中國人民所取得的成就]使敵人害怕。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    zhōngguó__rénmíng__suǒ__qǔdé__de__chéngjiù__shǐ__dírén__hàipà

    Chinese__people__SUO__attain__DE__achievement__make__enemy__scared

    The achievements that the Chinese people had attained made the enemy scared.

    c. [DP 清王朝的腐朽]使他失望。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    qīng__wángcháo__de__fǔxiǔ__shǐ__tā__shīwàng

    Qing__dynasty__DE__decadence__make__him__disappointed

    The Qing dynasty’s decadence made him feel disappointed.

Like English make causatives, Mandarin shǐ causatives can take a subject, a non-experiencer, and a non-psych adjective, again with either a CP (12) or a DP (13) as subject.

  1. (12)

    a. [CP 你抱著我]可以使我暖和一點。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    nǐ__bào__zhe__wǒ__kěyǐ__shǐ__wǒ__nuǎnhuo__yīdiǎn

    you__hold__ASP__I__can__make__I__warm__little

    That you hold me can make me feel warmer.

    b. [CP 光線太強太弱]都會使眼睛疲憊。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    guāngxiàn__tài__qiáng__tài__ruò__dōu__huì__shǐ__yǎnjīng__píbèi

    light__too__strong__too__weak__DOU__will___make__eye__tired

    That the light is too strong or too weak will make the eyes tired.

    c. [CP 大臣過於尊顯]會使君主卑微。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    dàchén__guòyú__zūnxiǎn__huì__shǐ__jūnzhǔ__bēiwēi

    minister__too__dignified__will__make__monarch__humble

    That the ministers were too dignified would make the monarch humble.

  1. (13)

    a. [DP 這些事]使她非常繁忙。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    zhè__xiē__shì__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__fánmáng

    this__CL__matter__make__her__extremely__busy

    These matters made her extremely busy.

    b. [DP 農村生活]使她的臉頰通紅。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    nóngcūn__shēnghuó__shǐ__tā__de__liánjiá__tōnghóng

    countryside__life__make__she__DE__cheek__red

    The rural life made her cheeks red.

    c. [DP 跳動的燈火]使我的眼睛酸痛。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    tiàodòng__de__dēnghuǒ__shǐ__wǒ__de__yǎnjīng__suāntòng

    sparkling__DE__light__make__I__DE__eye__sore

    The sparkling light made my eyes sore.

At the same time, Mandarin shǐ causatives differ from English make causatives in several respects. For one thing, Mandarin shǐ causatives do not exhibit variants with an expletive (14). (We use α to stand for an expletive, as Mandarin does not have a counterpart of English expletive it (Cheung and Larson 2015).) In other words, the ill-formedness of (14) should not be attributed to the prohibition against the Mandarin counterpart of English expletive it. Rather, it is due to the lack of expletives in Mandarin, which is a general phenomenon.

  1. (14)

    *α使張三很生氣[CP 瑪麗突然離開]。

    α__shǐ__zhāngsān__hěn__shēngqì__mǎlì__tūrán__líkāi

    EXPL__make__Zhangsan__very__angry__Mary__suddenly__leave

    Intended: It made Zhangsan very angry that Mary had suddenly left

Also, whereas English make causatives allow backward binding only with an experiencer and a psych adjective, Mandarin appears to allow backward binding in all shǐ causatives. That is, shǐ causatives involving an experiencer and a psych adjective behave no differently than those involving a non-experiencer and a non-psych adjective. As shown in 15a,b, shǐ causatives involving an experiencer and a psych adjective allow backward binding of the bare reflexive 自己 zìjǐ 'self' by the experiencer. Further, 16a, b shows that shǐ causatives involving a non-experiencer and a non-psych adjective also allow backward binding of the bare reflexive zìjǐ 'self' by the non-experiencer.Footnote 5 Following the syntactic approach to zìjǐ, we assume that zìjǐ is a long-distance reflexive subject to Binding Principle A.Footnote 6 On this view, zìjǐ in the subject position must be underlyingly c-commanded by the antecedent in the following examples.

  1. (15)

    a. 自己i的裸照被公開使小紅i很驚訝。

    zìjǐ__de__luǒzhào__bèi__gōngkāi__shǐ__xiǎohóng__hěn__jīngyà

    self__DE__nude-photo__BEI__make-public__make__Xiaohong__very__shocked

    That her i own nude photos had been made public made Xiaohong i very shocked.

    b. 能讓自己i輕鬆一次的念頭使他i很高興。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    néng__ràng__zìjǐ__qīngsōng__yī__cì__de__niàntou__shǐ__tā__hěn__gāoxìng

    can__let__self__relaxed__one__CL__DE__idea__make__he__very__happy

    The idea of being able to let himself i relax one time made him i very happy.

  2. (16)

    a. 自己i也堅持一個星期做幾次面膜來使我i的肌膚緊繃。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    zìjǐ__yě__jiānchí__yī__gè__xīngqí__zuò__jǐ__cì__miànmó__lái__shǐ__wǒ__de__jīfū__jǐnbēng

    self__also__insist-on__one__CL__week__do__several__CL__face-mask__LAI__make__I__DE__skin__firm

    That I i also insisted on using face masks several times a week made my i skin firm

    b. 自己i繁忙的業務使張三i十分疲倦。

    zìjǐ__fánmáng__de__yèwù__shǐ__zhāngsān__shífēn__píjuàn

    self__busy__DE__affair__make__Zhangsan__very__tired

    His i own busy affairs made Zhangsan i very tired.

Additional evidence comes from corpus data showing that shǐ causatives with an experiencer and a psych adjective allow the experiencer to bind an empty category (e) inside a CP subject (17) or a DP subject (18).

  1. (17)

    a. [CP ei 背叛他]使我i很慚愧。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    e__bèipàn__tà__shǐ__wǒ__hěn__cánkùi

    e__betray__he__make__me__very__ashamed

    That [I i ] betrayed him made me i very ashamed.

    b. [CP ei 有機會接近群眾]使他i非常高興。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    e__yǒu__jīhuì__jiējìn__qúnzhòng__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__gāoxìng

    e__have__opportunity__be-close-to__crowd__make__he__extremely__happy

    That [he i ] had the opportunity to be close to the crowd made him i feel extremely happy.

  2. (18)

    a. [DP ei 父親的死]使她i非常悲痛。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    e__fùqīn__de__sǐ__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__bēitòng

    e__father__DE__death__make__her__extremely__sad

    [Her i ] father’s death made her i feel extremely sad.

    b. [DP ei 丈夫的理解]使她i十分感動。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    e__zhàngfū__de__ lǐjiě__shǐ__tā__shífēn__gǎndòng

    e__husband__DE__understanding __make__her__moved

    [Her i ] husband’s understanding made her i feel moved.

(19) and (20) further show that shǐ causatives with a non-experiencer and a non-psych adjective also allow the non-experiencer to bind an empty category (e) inside a CP subject (19) or a DP subject (20).

  1. (19)

    a. [CP ei 全心投入工作]使她i的生活分外忙碌。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    e__quānxīn__tóurù__gōngzuò__shǐ__tā__de__shēnghuó__fènwài__mánglù

    e__wholeheartedly__devote__work__make__she__DE__life__especially__busy

    That [she i ] devoted herself wholeheartedly to work made her i life especially busy.

    b. [CP ei 看到別人對此很習慣]就使我i更加敏感。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    e__kàndào__biérén__duì__cǐ__hěn__xíguàn__jiù__shǐ__wǒ__gèngjiā__mǐngǎn

    e__see__other__to__this__very__be-used-to__JIU__make__me__more__sensitive

    That [I i ] saw other people were very used to it made me i feel more sensitive.

  1. (20)

    a. [DP ei 一夜的高燒]使她i的身體十分虛弱。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    e__yīyè__de__gāoshāo__shǐ__tā__de__shēntǐ__shífēn__xūruò

    e__one-night__DE__fever__make__she__DE__body__very__weak

    [Her i ] one night’s fever made her i body very weak.

    b. [DP ei 旅途的勞累]使他i很疲乏。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    e__lǚtú__de__láolèi__shǐ__tā__hěn__pífá

    e__ journey__DE__fatigue__make__he__very__tired

    The fatiguing nature of [his i ] journey made him i very tired.

We propose that the empty category in these examples is pro, in the sense of Huang (1984, 1989, 1992). Specifically, Huang proposes that Mandarin crucially differs from English in possessing an empty pronoun pro, which can appear in all argument positions including possessive ones (see Huang et al. 2009). According to Huang (1984), the distribution of pro is governed by the Generalized Control Rule (taken from Huang 1984, p. 552).

  1. (21)

    Generalized control rule

    Coindex an empty pronominal with the closest nominal element.

Huang defines closest in terms of c-command: a nominal element is considered closest to pro if it is the closest nominal element c-commanding pro. Assume that the empty category in the above examples should be analyzed as pro. On this view, the pro inside the CP and DP subjects must be underlyingly c-commanded by the experiencer in shǐ causatives with psych adjectives (17–18) and by the non-experiencer in shǐ causatives with non-psych adjectives (19–20).

Finally, Mandarin shǐ causatives do not allow a CP or DP subject to co-occur with the CP complement of a psych adjective, where the latter describes the content of the AP-state. Compare English 8c–d (repeated as 22a–b) with Mandarin 23a–b.

  1. (22)

    a. [DP That (event)] made John happy [CP that Bill had arrived].

    b. [CP That Mary was drunk] made John happy [CP that Bill had arrived].

  1. (23)

    a. *[DP 這件事]使張三很生氣[CP 瑪麗突然離開]。

    zhè__jiàn__shì__shǐ__zhāngsān__hěn__shēngqì__mǎlì__túrán__líkāi

    this__CL__matter__make__Zhangsan__very__angry__Mary__suddenly__leave

    Intended: This matter made Zhangsan very angry that Mary had suddenly left

    b. *[CP 李四喝醉了]使張三很生氣[CP 瑪麗突然離開]。

    lǐsì__hēzuì__le__shǐ__zhāngsān__hěn__shēngqì__mǎlì__túrán__líkāi

    Lisi__drunk__ASP__make__Zhangsan__very__angry__Mary__suddenly__leave

    Intended: That Lisi was drunk made Zhangsan very angry that Mary had suddenly left.

The table in (24) summarizes the properties of English and Mandarin 'make' causatives.

  1. (24)

    Properties of English and Mandarin “make” causatives

 

English make causatives

Mandarin shǐ causatives

Subject

it/DP/CP

*it; DP/CP

Backward binding

Only with psych adjectives

Always possible

In sum, 'make' causatives in English and Mandarin share two important properties: first, they can both take a DP or a CP as their subject; second, they both permit backward binding with psych adjectives. However, unlike English make causatives, Mandarin shǐ causatives lack expletive variants. Shǐ causatives also seem to enjoy greater freedom in terms of backward binding, as we have seen that backward binding is also permitted with non-psych adjectives.

2 Projecting 'make' causatives

In light of the two important properties shared by English and Mandarin 'make' causatives, we propose that in both languages, 'make' causatives involving experiencers and psych adjectives are essentially triadic unaccusatives. On this view, 'make' causatives like 25a have the underlying structure shown in 25b. Specifically, assume that the vP in (25b) is the usual one occurring with unaccusatives like John arrived (25c). We then posit that 'make' causatives have an additional empty verb (V in 25b), which is a true light verb responsible for assigning the experiencer θ-role to John when make raises (Grimshaw and Mester 1988). The empty verb V in turn subcategorizes for a VP structure like the VP-shell structure proposed in Larson (1988) whose head is occupied by make; its specifier is an AP denoting a psychological state; and its complement can be a CP or a DP denoting the source.

figure a

On this view, 'make' relates an experiencer, a state, and a source.

figure b

Now, how is the surface order derived? For the case where a source CP occupies the subject position, as in 27, we propose that make raises successively through the empty V to v and then to I, and the source CP raises to Spec-vP and then to Spec-IP.

  1. (27)

    [CP That Bill had arrived] made John angry.

  2. (28)

    [IP [CP that Bill had arrived] [I′ made [vP [v′ [VP John [V′ [VP angry [V′]]]]]]]]

To capture the fact that English make causatives taking a source CP can have expletive variants, as in 29, we propose the derivation in 30, where again make raises through the empty V to v and then to I. The expletive it is then inserted in Spec-IP, with the source CP remaining in situ.

  1. (29)

    It made John angry [CP that Bill had arrived].

  1. (30)

    [IP it [I′ made [vP [v′ [VP John [V′ [VP angry [V′ [CP that Bill had arrived]]]]]]]]]

For the case where a source DP occupies the subject position, as in 31, we propose the derivation in 32. Here, make raises through V to v and then to I, and the source DP raises to Spec-vP and then to Spec-IP. As expletive variants are not possible in English make causatives with a source DP (see 7c), the movement of the source DP to Spec-IP is mandatory—we presume, for case reasons.

  1. (31)

    [DP Those events] made John angry.

  2. (32)

    [IP [DP those events] [I′ made [vP [v′ [VP John [V′ [VP angry [V′]]]]]]]]

3 Predicting the data

3.1 Shared predictions for English and Mandarin 'make' causatives

Two important predictions follow from our analysis of 'make' causatives in English and Mandarin. First, given that the experiencer c-commands the source CP or DP underlyingly before it moves to the subject position (33), our proposal correctly predicts that backward binding is possible in both languages, assuming that binding can be established derivationally or through silent copies.Footnote 7

figure c

The fact that 'make' causatives allow backward binding is further corroborated by 35a–c and their expletive variants 34a–c. Since the experiencer c-commands the source CP in 34a–c, it can serve as the antecedent of the anaphor inside the CP. And since our proposal maintains that the source CP is underlyingly c-commanded by the experiencer and that the surface order in 35a–c is derived by raising the source CP to the subject position (see 33), we correctly predict that these examples permit backward binding.

  1. (34)

    a. It made no boyi happy [CP that hei was criticized].

    b. It made each boyi envious [CP that the otheri was praised].

    c. It made Johni angry [CP that pictures of himselfi appeared on YouTube].

  1. (35)

    a. [CP That hei was criticized] made no boyi happy ___.

    b. [CP That the otheri was praised] made each boyi envious ___.

    c. [CP That pictures of himselfi appeared on YouTube] made Johni angry ___.

Our proposal also accounts for the backward binding observed in make causatives with a DP subject (see 1a–c and 7b, repeated in 36). Since our proposal maintains that the source DP is underlyingly c-commanded by the experiencer (see 33) and that the surface order in 36a–d is derived by moving the DP to the subject position, we correctly predict that these examples permit backward binding.

  1. (36)

    a. [DP Each otheri + j’s remarks] made Johni and Maryj angry ___.

    b. [DP Pictures of each otheri] made usi happy ___.

    c. [DP These stories about herselfi] made Maryi nervous ___.

    d. [DP Pictures of himselfi] made no boyi angry ___.

Second, our analysis of make causatives correctly predicts that backward binding is not permitted between an anaphor in a source CP and a quantifier or proper name inside the CP complement of a psych adjective. For example, neither the quantifier no boy (37a), the quantifier each boy (37b), nor the proper name Mary (37c) inside the CP complement of the psych adjective happy can serve as the antecedent of the anaphor within the source CP. This failure of backward binding follows from our analysis, since the CP complement of psych adjectives does not c-command the source CP.

  1. (37)

    a. *[CP That hei was praised] made John happy [CP that no boyi was present] ___.

    b. *[CP That the otheri was praised] made John happy [CP that each boyi was away] ___.

    c. *[CP That pictures of herselfi appeared on YouTube] made John happy [CP that Maryi was out of town] ___.

Turning to Mandarin, since our analysis holds that the source CP (15a, repeated as 38a) and DP (15b, repeated as 38b) are underlyingly c-commanded by the experiencer before they move to the subject position (see 33), we correctly predict that backward binding is permitted.

  1. (38)

    a. [CP 自己i的裸照被公開]使小紅i很驚訝___。

    zìjǐ__de__luǒzhào__bèi__gōngkāi__shǐ__xiǎohóng__hěn__jīngyà

    self__DE__nude-photo__BEI__make-public__make__Xiaohong__very__shocked

    That her i nude photos had been made public made Xiaohong i very shocked.

    b. [DP 能讓自己i輕鬆一次的念頭]使他i很高興___。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    néng__ràng__zìjǐ__qīngsōng__yī__cì__de__niàntou__shǐ__tā__hěn__gāoxìng

    can__let__self__relaxed__one__CL__DE__idea__make__he__very__happy

    The idea of being able to let himself i relax one time made him i very happy.

Recall that shǐ causatives allow the experiencer to bind pro inside a CP subject (17, repeated as 39) or a DP subject (18, repeated as 40).

  1. (39)

    a. [CP proi 背叛他]使我i很慚愧。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    pro__bèipàn__tà__shǐ__wǒ__hěn__cánkùi

    pro__betray__him__make__me__very__ashamed

    That [I i ] betrayed him made me i very ashamed.

    b. [CP proi 有機會接近群眾]使他i非常高興。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    pro__yǒu__jīhuì__jiējìn__qúnzhòng__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__gāoxìng

    pro__have__opportunity__be-close-to__crowd__make__he__extremely__happy

    That [he i ] had the opportunity to be close to the crowd made him i feel extremely happy.

  1. (40)

    a. [DP proi 父親的死]使她i非常悲痛。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    pro__fùqīn__de__sǐ__shǐ__tā__fēicháng__bēitòng

    pro__father__DE__death__make__her__extremely__sad

    [Her i ] father’s death made her i feel extremely sad.

    b. [DP proi 丈夫的理解]使她i十分感動。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    pro__zhàngfū__de__ lǐjiě__shǐ__tā__ shífēn__gǎndòng

    pro__husband__DE__understanding __make__her__very___moved

    [Her i ] husband’s understanding made her i feel very moved.

Under our proposal that a source CP or DP is underlyingly c-commanded by the experiencer in shǐ causatives, and given that there is no other nominal element c-commanding pro, as 41b and 42b show, we correctly predict that pro inside the source CP or DP will be coindexed with the experiencer, following Huang’s (1984) generalized control rule.

figure d
figure e

In sum, our analysis of 'make' causatives in English and Mandarin correctly predicts that backward binding is permitted in both languages.

3.2 Divergences between English and Mandarin 'make' causatives

As summarized in the table in 24, 'make' causatives in English and Mandarin exhibit three crucial differences, which we analyze below.

3.2.1 Availability of expletive variants

Unlike English make causatives, Mandarin shǐ causatives lack expletive variants; compare 43 and 14 (repeated as 44).

  1. (43)

    It made David very angry that Mary had suddenly left.

  2. (44)

    *α使張三很生氣[CP 瑪麗突然離開]。

    α__shǐ__zhāngsān__hěn__shēngqì__mǎlì__túrán__líkāi

    EXPL__make__Zhangsan__very__angry__Mary__suddenly__leave

    Intended: It made Zhangsan very angry that Mary had suddenly left.

We assimilate this to a wider fact about Mandarin—that is, Mandarin lacks expletive structures.Footnote 8 Assuming that 'make' is associated with a strong EPP feature in both English and Mandarin, we correctly predict that the strong EPP feature can be checked by movement of the source CP or DP to the subject position in both English and Mandarin (45a) or by insertion of the expletive it in the subject position in English (45b).Footnote 9 Since Mandarin lacks expletive structures, we correctly predict the absence of Mandarin counterparts of (45b), where the source CP remains in situ when an expletive is inserted.Footnote 10

figure f

3.2.2 Mandarin shǐ causatives with non-psych adjectives

Unlike English make causatives, which disallow backward binding with non-experiencers and non-psych adjectives, all Mandarin shǐ causatives—including those with non-experiencers and non-psych adjectives—permit backward binding (see 16, repeated in 46). As in shǐ causatives with experiencers and psych adjectives, backward binding is permitted with a DP subject (46a) or a CP subject (46b).

  1. (46)

    a. [DP自己i繁忙的業務]使張三i十分疲倦。

    zìjǐ__fánmáng__de__yèwù__shǐ__zhāngsān__shífēn__píjuàn

    self__busy__DE__affair__make__Zhangsan__very__tired

    His i own busy affairs made Zhangsan i very tired.

    b. 自己i也堅持一個星期做幾次面膜來使我i的肌膚緊繃。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    zìjǐ__yě__jiānchí__yī__gè__xīngqí__zuò__jǐ__cì__miànmó__lái__shǐ__wǒ__de__jīfū__jǐnbēng

    self__also__insist-on__one__CL__week__do__several__CL__face-mask__LAI__make__I__DE__skin__firm

    That I i also insisted on using face masks several times a week made my i skin firm.

To account for these data, we propose a variant of our original triadic structure in which V is a true light verb, which does not assign an experiencer θ-role, as in 47 for 46a. Since the bare reflexive 自己 zìjǐ 'self' inside the DP complement of V is underlyingly c-commanded by the non-experiencer 張三 zhāngsān 'Zhangsan', we correctly predict that backward binding is permitted.

  1. (47)
    figure g

To derive the surface order, we propose that 使 shǐ 'make' raises through V to v and then to I, and the DP raises to Spec-vP and then to Spec-IP.

  1. (48)

    [IP [DP 自己繁忙的業務] [I′ 使 [vP [v′ [VP 張三 [V′ [VP 十分疲倦 [V′ ]]]]]]]]

    zìjǐ__fánmáng__de__yèwù__shǐ__zhāngsān__shífēn__píjuàn

    self__busy__DE__affairs__make__Zhangsan__very__tired

    His i busy affairs made Zhangsan i very tired.

Additional evidence comes from corpus data showing that in shǐ causatives, the non-experiencer can bind pro inside the CP subject (19, repeated as 49) and DP subject (20, repeated as 50).

  1. (49)

    a. [CP proi 全心投入工作]使她i的生活分外忙碌。(Zhan et al. 詹衛東等 2003)

    pro__quānxīn__tóurù__gōngzuò__shǐ__tā__de__shēnghuó__fènwài__mánglù

    pro__wholeheartedly__devote__work__make__she__DE__life__especially__busy

    That [she i ] devoted herself wholeheartedly to work made her i life especially busy.

    b. [CP proi 看到別人對此很習慣]就使我i更加敏感。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    pro__kàndào__biérén__duì__cǐ__hěn__xíguàn__jiù__shǐ__wǒ__gèngjiā__mǐngǎn

    pro__see__other__to__this__very__be-used-to__JIU__make__me__more__sensitive

    That [I i ] saw other people were very used to it made me i feel more sensitive.

  1. (50)

    a. [DP proi 一夜的高燒]使她i的身體十分虛弱。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    pro__yīyè__de__gāoshāo__shǐ__tā__de__shēntǐ__shífēn__xūruò

    pro__one-night__DE__fever__make__she__DE__body__very__weak

    [Her i ] one night’s fever made her i body very weak.

    b. [DP proi 旅途的勞累]使他i很疲乏。(BLCU Corpus Center 2016)

    pro__lǚtú__de__láolèi__shǐ__tā__hěn__pífá

    pro__ journey__DE__fatigue__make__he__very__tired

    The fatiguing nature of [his i ] journey made him i very tired.

Under our proposal that the CP and DP subjects are underlyingly c-commanded by the non-experiencer in shǐ causatives, and given that there is no other nominal element c-commanding pro (see 51a for 49a and 51b for 50a), we correctly predict that pro inside the CP and DP subject is coindexed with the non-experiencer, following Huang’s generalized control rule.

  1. (51)

    a. ...[v′ 使 ...[VP 她i的生活 ...[VP 分外忙碌 ...[CP proi 全心投入工作]]]]

    shǐ__tā__de__shēnghuó__fènwài__mánglù__ pro__quānxīn__tóurù__gōngzuò

    make__she__DE__life__especially__busy__pro__wholeheartedly__devote__work

    That [she i ] devoted herself wholeheartedly to work made her i life especially busy.

    b. ...[v′ 使 ...[VP 她i的身體 ...[VP 十分虛弱 ... [DP proi 一夜的高燒]]]]

    shǐ__tā__de__shēntǐ__shífēn__xūruò__pro__yīyè__de__gāoshāo

    make__she__DE__body__very__weak__pro__one-night__DE__fever

    [Her i ] one night’s fever made her i body very weak.

In sum, our proposal that shǐ causatives have a unified triadic structure nicely accommodates the fact that backward binding is permitted with both psych and non-psych adjectives in Mandarin.

3.2.3 English make causatives with non-psych adjectives

Recall that English make causatives with non-experiencers and non-psych adjectives crucially differ from their Mandarin counterparts in terms of backward binding: namely, they disallow it (see 3–6, repeated as 52–55).

  1. (52)

    a. [CP That he was driving] made John responsible/culpable (for the accident).

    b. *It made John responsible/culpable (for the accident) [CP that he was driving].

    c. *[That hei was driving] made no boyi responsible/culpable.

  1. (53)

    a. [CP That his patient canceled] made John available/free/accessible.

    b. *It made John available/free/accessible [CP that his patient canceled].

    c. *[That hisi patient canceled] made no doctori available/free/accessible.

  1. (54)

    a. [CP That its edge was dull] made the tool useful/useless/useable.

    b. *It made the tool useful/useless/useable [CP that its edge was dull].

    c. *[That itsi edge was dull] made no tooli useful/useless/useable.

  1. (55)

    a. [CP That the temperature was high] made working difficult (for us).

    b. ??It made working difficult (for us) [CP that the temperature was high].

    c. ??[That hisi teacher was present] made speaking difficult for no boyi.

To capture this fact, we tentatively suggest a small clause (SC) structure, according to which make causatives with non-experiencers and non-psych adjectives do not have a triadic structure (see 56b for 56a). Furthermore, given the absence of an additional empty V responsible for assignment of the experiencer θ-role, and given that the SC has a subject (here, John), no experiencer θ-role is expected to be assigned. As make relates clause-like arguments (the SC and the CP complement), it is essentially synonymous with cause in English.

figure h

Given that the DP subject and the non-psych adjective are not subcategorized arguments of make, our proposed structure predicts that there are no direct thematic relations between make, the DP subject, and the non-psych adjective within the SC. In addition, our proposed structure correctly predicts that no backward binding is possible between the DP subject within the SC and a personal pronoun within the CP complement of make (e.g., he in 52c), since no c-command relations hold between the two.Footnote 11

To derive the surface order, we propose that make raises to v and then to I, and the CP raises to Spec-vP and then to Spec-IP.

  1. (57)

    [IP [CP that he was driving] [I′ made [vP [v′ [VP [SC [DP John] [AP responsible]] [V′]]]]]]

While the fact that make causatives with non-experiencers and non-psych adjectives lack expletive variants (see the b examples in 52–55) does not directly follow from our proposed structure, it seems plausible to relate this to the synonymous status of make and cause, as both disallow an expletive subject (58b, 59b) and both can take a clausal subject (58a, 59a).

  1. (58)

    a. [CP That he was driving] made John responsible/culpable (for the accident).

    b. *It made John responsible/culpable (for the accident) [CP that he was driving].

  1. (59)

    a. [CP That he was driving] caused John to be held responsible.

    b. ?*It caused John to be held responsible [CP that he was driving].

4 Conclusion

In this paper, we examined 'make' causative constructions with DP, AP, and CP arguments in two typologically unrelated languages: English and Mandarin. Make causatives in English involving a DP or CP subject, an experiencer, and an adjective describing the experiencer’s psychological state exhibit properties strongly implying that their subjects are derived. Their Mandarin counterparts pattern quite similarly, suggesting that the relevant properties are common to the construction type. We presented an account of 'make' causatives in both languages in which the DP/CP subjects in question originate as low source arguments that raise syntactically to the subject position. We showed that this proposal explains the relevant properties in both Mandarin and English: specifically, the possibility of backward binding in both languages and the availability of subject expletives in English. We further contrasted the behavior of 'make' causatives involving psych adjectives with those involving non-psych adjectives, proposing a different analysis for the latter case that assumes a different selection pattern for 'make'. With psych adjectives 'make' is triadic, selecting an experiencer, an AP, and a source phrase in both Mandarin and English. The source phrase expresses the source of the state induced in the experiencer. By contrast, with non-psych adjectives make is dyadic, selecting two clauses in English. Make expresses a causation relation between the eventualities denoted by the two clauses.