earticle

영어

Benefactive verbs in Japanese can be classified into 1) ‘site ageru’(「してあげる」, 2) ‘site kureru’(「してくれる」), and 3) ‘site morau’(「してもらう」) depending on the direction of action. ‘Site morau’ sentences are syntactically and semantically similar to passive sentences in the sense that a benefactive of an action is in the subjective position and an agent is in the dative position. However, they morphologically take an active form. Thus, they share characteristics of both the active and passive voice. This article investigates the condition in which a ‘site morau’ sentence changes into a causative sentence. In addition, it analyzes the semantic similarities and differences between causative sentences and ‘site morau’ sentences. It also shows that ‘site morau’ sentences can be changed into causative sentences, since causative sentences have semantic properties of both ‘giving’ and ‘receiving’. Lastly, ‘site morau’ is subcategorized into 1) typical ‘site morau’, 2) moderate ‘site morau’, 3) causative ‘site morau’, with each type studied in depth.