A causal model account of the Volitionality-Zero Result correlation

Abstract

English lexical causatives typically entail result realization when used with a perfective aspect. A subset of these predicates, known as defeasible causatives, form an exception: with non-volitional subjects, they yield a culminating reading and entail the result, whereas with volitional subjects, they also allow a zero result non-culminating reading, in which the result is merely implicated and can be cancelled. This correlation between volitionality and the zero result non-culminating reading (V-ZR correlation) is captured by Demirdache and Martin’s (2015) Agent Control Hypothesis (ACH). Most existing accounts adopt a result cancellation approach, assuming a single result-encoding predicate underlying both readings. Drawing on new data from Mandarin and English, I argue against this assumption and propose instead a dual event structure approach: the culminating reading involves an achievement predicate, which encodes a result, while the zero result nonculminating reading involves an activity or accomplishment predicate, which does not. This view, also advocated by Piñón (2014), leaves open why the zero result non-culminating reading typically requires a volitional subject. I address this question by developing a causal-modelbased account.