Another look at sa-insertion in Japanese

Abstract

The sa-inserted causative form is a substandard form of the causative predicate. For this phenomenon, there are two analyses, the suffix leveling analysis and the double causative analysis. The present paper advocates a third analysis, the stem leveling analysis, where sa-insertion results from treating the host for causative suffixation as the irrealis stem across the board. This analysis is compatible with all the range of sub-standard causative forms, including rarely mentioned irrealis based causative form of the s-irregular verb.