Acta Linguistica Asiatica, 10(2), 2020. ISSN: 2232-3317, http://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/ala/ DOI: 10.4312/ala.10.2.83-103 THE MANY MEANINGS OF THE JAPANESE CAUSATIVE: WIDENING THE PRAGMATIC TAKE ON THE -(SA)SERU CAUSATIVE SENTENCE Petra JAKLIN University of Tsukuba, Japan 5rajaklin@gmail.com Abstract Causative sentences have long been a topic of research in Japanese linguistics due to the different meanings expressed by the use of the -(s)aseru inflection forming the causative verbal form. This paper presents a wider range of possible interpretations and meanings carried by Japanese causative sentences, the analysis of which was based on Fukada’s (2010) paper. The aim of this paper is to present the Japanese causative in simple terms, with the focus placed on the causer and the causee, i.e. on how their relationship connects to the overall meaning of the sentence. Through the analysis of example sentences, the transfer and expression of different meanings will also be discussed on examples from English and Croatian. Since the meaning of causative sentences often depends on the context, interpretations presented in this paper can serve as guidelines to understanding the versatility of the Japanese causative, and help when expressing nuances of meaning in other languages. Keywords: causative; meaning; Japanese; causer; causee Povzetek Vzročni (kavzalni) odvisniki so pogosto obravnavani v japonskem jezikoslovju, predvsem zaradi številnih različnih pomenov, ki jih lahko izraža vzročna pripona -(s)aseru in posledično vzročna glagolska oblika. Na osnovi klasifikacije, ki jo predlaga Fukada (2010), članek obravnava različne možne interpretacije in pomene, ki jih lahko izražajo vzročni odvisniki. Namen članka je čim bolj enostavno predstaviti vzročnost v japonskih povedih, pri čemer se osredotoča na povzročitelja in z dejanjem prizadetega, oz. na dejstvo, kakšno je njuno razmerje v povezavi s celotnim pomenom povedi. Na kratko je obravnavan tudi način, kako so isti pomeni povedi izraženi v angleškem in hrvaškem jeziku. Glede na to, da je pomen vzročnih stavkov mnogokrat odvisen od konteksta, lahko možne interpretacije povedi v tem članku služijo kot rdeča nit pri razumevanju vzročnih povedi in izražaju le-teh v drugih jezikih. Ključne besede: vzročni odvisnik; pomen; japonščina; povzročitelj dejanja; prizadeti v dejanju 84 Petra JAKLIN 1 Introduction The Japanese causative verb and its uses in sentences have been a point of interest to many linguists and a stumbling block to Japanese language learners due to its inflexibility of form. In simple terms, the Japanese causative verbal form is easily identifiable by its -(s)aseru inflection. Although it might be easily distinguishable, the problem with having an unaltering verbal form is that its meaning is not easily understandable. As opposed to Japanese, both English and Croatian have a very small number of causative verbs that are formed using inflections, not to mention that there exists no designated causative verbal form; hence the Japanese causative has no counterpart in these two (or for that matter, many other) languages. Therefore, rendering the Japanese causative sentence and its meaning into other languages might prove a challenging task syntactically, semantically and pragmatically. In this paper I analyze Japanese causative sentences that appear in the Haruki Murakami’s novel Noruwei no mori (orig. ノルウェイの森, Engl. transl. Norwegian wood), a novel that has been known to a wider European readership, and discuss their meanings using Fukada’s (2010) classification. I focus on the causer and the causee (animate/inanimate) within a sentence, and the variety of meanings of such sentences in general. Through this analysis I give an insight into the possible understanding and interpretations of causative sentences and clarify in which contexts they are to be used. Lastly, I touch upon how the meanings of such sentences were transferred into English and, if possible, suggest solutions for Croatian.1 By doing so, different meanings of the Japanese causative are compared to a major European language, English, and contrasted with some possible ways of expressing causation in another, albeit minor, European language, showing the variety of causative expressions. The general aim of this paper is to present causation in simple terms and make it more understandable for those who carry interest in linguistics and/or Japanese, and especially for learners of Japanese. 2 Defining the causative 2.1 The Japanese -(s)aseru causative The causative expresses that “somebody made somebody else do something”, such as “The lady made me call my boss”. However, sentences such as “The lady made me angry.” are also valid. To broaden the definition, the causative represents the influence 1 There exists no direct translation of the aforementioned novel Norwegian wood in Croatian. The Croatian expressions mentioned come from the Croatian translation of the English version of the book as well as the author’s own suggestions; the latter should be considered as possibilities of expression. The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 85 exerted by entity A on entity B (be that influence emotional, material or of some other nature; see Glumac (2015, p. 19), causing a change is entity B’s emotional or physical state (see Baron (1987) for the temporal definition of the causative action). In order to exert influence, entity A – the causer, is usually animate and exercises some sort of power and/or willpower over entity B – the causee. In general, the causer uses their higher status to either make the causee perform an action, or to allow the causee to carry out an action. These are the two basic meanings of the causative scholars agree on – coercion and permission (Heycock, 1987; Glumac, 2015; Fukada, 2010; Hayatsu, 2016, etc.). These two meanings have a similar syntactical structure in Japanese, and their understanding is, in some cases, heavily dependent on the context they are used in (Glumac, 2015, p. 217). (1a) 姉は弟を家事させた。 Ane wa otōto o kajisaseta. ‘The older sister made the younger brother do the housework.’ (1b) 姉は弟に歌わせた。 Ane wa otōto ni utawaseta. ‘The older sister let the younger brother sing.’ In (1a), the sister is making (coercing) her younger brother to do housework, i.e. the causer (the entity causing the action to happen)2 is exerting her influence on an (un)willing causee (the entity doing the action)3 of a “lower status”. These kinds of simple sentences can be distinguished by the difference in the particle に (ni) and を (wo), namely the difference in case, but the following sentence might not be as easily understandable: (2) JP: 先に先にと行かせないで立ちどまって考えさせること。 (ノルウェイの森(下), p. 14) Saki ni saki ni to ikasenaide tatchidomatte kangaesaseru koto. EN: ‘And you don’t let them rush ahead from one thing to the next: you make them stop and think.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 202) CR: ‘I ne smiješ ih pustiti da jure s jedne stvari na drugu, nego ih natjerati da stanu i razmisle.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 176) 2 Hayatsu (2016). 3 Hayatsu (2016). 86 Petra JAKLIN Example (2) does have a coercive meaning, but unlike simple sentences preceding it, its meaning is dependent on the context. Furthermore, such sentences are predominant when it comes to the Japanese causative. As already mentioned, the Japanese causative is easily distinguishable thanks to the usage of the -(s)aseru morpheme, which is agglutinated to the base of the verb. In simple sentences with an easily distinguishable structure and case pattern, the ni causative is permissive and the wo causative coercive.4 The possible syntactical and semantical meanings of both causative verbs and causative sentences employing those verbs have been discussed by scholars; in addition, it is important to identify the causer and the causee in order to correctly interpret the Japanese causative sentence, which is the focus of this article. 2.2 Introduction of the English and Croatian causative To reiterate, the causative construction has two basic meanings – that of “coercion” and that of “permission”, which could easily be expressed by the verbs “make” and “let” in English, and “natjerati” and “dopustiti” in Croatian. Fukada (2010) used a variety of English terms for expressing different meanings of causative sentences he discussed; for the two basic usages, Fukada (2010) used expressions “to get [somebody] do [something]”, “(Someone) made [somebody unwilling][do something]” (p. 21, 28) to express the coercive, and “To let [somebody] [do something]”, “(someone) let [somebody] [do something]” (p. 21, 29) to convey the permissive meaning. The author notes that there are variations to these expressions which can be used in much the same manner, such as “to allow” instead of “to let”, or “to order somebody to do something” instead of “to make somebody do something” (also see Baron (1974)). Similarly, downscaling is possible, such as “to ask somebody to do something” instead of “to make somebody do something”. Such variations are dependant on different factors such as the setting and the relationship between the causer and causee5. Baron (1987) defines causation as a relationship between the state of affairs X and X’ at the times T1 and T2, respectively, with conditions Z necessary for the action to happen (1974, p. 299). In her work Baron discusses the types of causation in English (morphological and syntactic) and the means of expression of both, as well as English causative verbs. Causation is possible and actually very commonly expressed in English through suppletion, e.g. believe-persuade (Baron, 1974, pp. 303–304), through lexical (same verb) causatives (e.g. bend), derivation from adjectives and nouns (e.g. just- 4 See Heycock (1987). 5 The relationship between the causer and causee needs to be paid attention to when translating from Japanese, as the Japanese language is especially sensitive to such factors, and expresses them in both written and spoken language. The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 87 justify), and syntactically 6 with periphrastic causative constructions formed by combining the verbs have/make/get/cause/let with a complement, e.g. make cry, or object of result, (e.g. The bomb demolished the wooden structure. (Baron, 1974, p. 309)) (Baron, 1974, pp. 302–310). When discussing causation as an underlying form (Baron, 1974, p. 312), Baron mentions Lakoff’s derivation of causative verbs from adjectives through the inchoative rule, such as in “The metal hardened.” from the adjective hard (Baron, 1974, p. 312). The author later writes about the inherent inchoative of a causative sentence when discussing the structure of X at T1 (Baron, 1974, p. 317). She points out that the reason causative sentences are inchoative is because the state X at T1 must be able to change into X’ at T2 due to Z, otherwise there can be no causation. Similar to English, Croatian does not have a dominant morphological causative form like the Japanese -(s)aseru, and morphological causatives are not common7 (Sinčić, 2018). In order to present a wider definition of causation, I will refer not only to works in Croatian, but also in two other Slavic languages closely related to Croatian, namely Slovene and Serbian.8 Glumac (2015) compares the Japanese -(sa)seru causative to its Serbian translations in her doctoral thesis, focusing on semantic and syntactic features. Glumac’s work gives an overall picture of the problems faced when translating the Japanese causative and presents the issues in research of the Japanese causative expressions that may possibly be connected to Slavic languages. She also states that causation cannot be uniformly translated into Serbian since it is at times heavily dependent on the context of the sentence. Similarly, Shigemori-Bučar (2006) analysed and contrasted the Japanese causative to its Slovene verbal equivalents from a typological standpoint using a corpus analysis. In her work she compares causative expressions in Slovene and Japanese, giving an overview of the type and nature of verbs used to form the causative in these two languages, discusses the agency of the verbs and the roles of the causer and the causee, presenting the range of verbs used to translate the Japanese causative verbal form. Little research is done on the causative in Croatian, and Sinčić (2018) gives a general overview of the Croatian causative in her master’s thesis. She lists the forms of the causative and factitive expressions while comparing them to the French construction “faire+infinitive”. In addition, Žagar-Szentesi (2011) writes about the grammaticalization of the Croatian dati (se) + infinitive construction, which, amongst others, carries a causative meaning of “having somebody do something for the subject 6 Baron also mentions the quasi-causative (1974, p. 309). 7 Sinčić also referred to V.A. Plungjan (2016, p. 73), writing that morphological expression of causation is not typical for Slavic languages. 8 Since all three of these languages are similar (Croatian and Serbian especially so), the (basic) causative expressions are generally similar as well. 88 Petra JAKLIN (causer)”, in which case the causee (doer of the action) is in most cases unknown/not expressed (2011, pp. 305–306). Although “dati (se)+infinitive” is an expression carrying a causative meaning, it is not an expression which conveys a notable amount of pressure put on the causee as opposed to, e.g. the imperative or the verb “natjerati [nekoga] (da)”, so the author believes there exists a possibility of using “dati (se) + infinitive” for expressing some of the Japanese -temorau sentences in causative use (as mentioned in Jaklin (2020)).9 The findings on causative in the three Slavic languages and English, and their further comparison to Japanese, brings us to the conclusion that transferring causation, the meaning of which in many cases is not apparent, does not have a set pattern. However, if the meanings of Japanese causative sentences get classified in as much detail as possible, useful guidelines on which expression suits a particular meaning could be formed. 3 Research methodology 3.1 Research question A single causative verbal form used to express both coercive and permissive causative sentences might present a difficulty in interpreting complex sentences that do not strictly follow the formula X は Y に/を V させる: (3) JP: それからその子にもう一度弾かせるの。(ノルウェイの森(下), p. 12) Sorekara sono ko ni mō ichido hikaseru no. EN: ‘Then I’d have her play the piece again, and her performance would be ten times better than the first time though.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 201) CR: ‘Onda bih joj rekla da je opet odsvira, i izvedba bi joj tada bila deset puta bolja nego prvi put.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 175) The above sentence can be seen as either coercive or permissive without context – either the teacher “makes” the child play or “lets” them play (the piano) one more time. In Norwegian wood the context is lightly coercive (the teacher has the child play the composition once again during their first class so that she can judge their ability), but without that background the sentence itself is ambiguous. The same cannot happen in English, where either the verbs “let” or “make (do)” would be used. The same problem was addressed by Fukada (2010), who describes the morpheme -(s)aseru as ambiguous, and raises a question on how to understand which 9 Jaklin (2020). The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 89 interpretation was intended (2010, p. 22). He suggests that pragmatics may give an answer to that question (2010, p. 22), and concludes that if the interpretations are indeed pragmatic inferences, the -(s)ase morpheme only means “to cause” in general (2010, p. 40). Therefore, Fukada (2010) gives several possible meanings a causative sentence may convey, and the analysis in this research bases on his classification. 3.2 Research scope and the data The causative sentences analysed and cited in this paper were extracted from the original Japanese literary work Noruwei no mori (orig. ノルウェイの森) written by Haruki Murakami, and its direct English translation Norwegian wood (translated by Jay Rubin). For Croatian, examples were taken from the indirect translation into Croatian called “Norveška šuma” (translated by Maja Tančik), some of the examples are author’s own translation variants. Causative sentences quoted from the original work Noruwei no mori are causative sentences with the -(s)aseru causative morpheme, i.e. sentences employing verbs in the causative form (行く(iku)→行かせる(ikaseru)); verbs 思わせ る (omowaseru), 曇らせる (kumoraseru), 寝かせる (nekaseru) and 眠らせる (nemuraseru) are also included, since they carry causative meaning of “to make somebody believe, give the impression” for 思わせる(omowaseru), “to cloud, to make dim or dull” for 曇らせる(kumoraseru), “to put to bed” for 寝かせる(nekaseru), “to put to sleep” for 眠らせる (nemuraseru), as defined by Jisho.org. A total of 141 Japanese sentences were extracted and analyzed; any brackets, bold letters or underlining seen in the sentences cited in this paper are changes made by the author and, unless stated differently, are cited from Noruwei no mori, its English translation Norwegian wood, or its Croatian translation Norveška šuma. The romanization system used throughout his work is the Hepburn system. The sentences are analyzed according to the pragmatic analysis by Fukada (2010), and compared to the English and Croatian translations to investigate the expressions used, and the ways their meanings were transferred in translations. 4 Analysis According to Fukada (2010), whose analysis discusses Shibatani’s on the sociative meaning of the Japanese causative, there are several pragmatic meanings the causative can express: manipulative, coercive, permissive, hands-off, adversity, and sociative pragmatic meaning. In this paper, definitions for each of these meanings will be presented as given by Fukada (2010), and discussed through examples from Murakami’s novel in an attempt to widen their possible definition. 90 Petra JAKLIN Through the analysis, the following points are taken into consideration. 1. The causer and the causee (animate/inanimate) 2. The power relationship between the two (and possible external influences) 3. The overall meaning of the sentence and its usage In this analysis, all animate agents are human entities {+human, +animate}, while inanimate agents are all non-human entities (i.e. natural phenomena, objects, etc.) and are marked as {-human, -animate}10. Definitions of Fukada’s interpretations will be discussed through example sentences, and will be elaborated further in order to present possible meanings in as many details as possible; the meanings for which variations of Fukada’s original definition were not found will be considered to be out of scope. In addition, English and Croatian expressions will be discussed according to each meaning. It is here to be mentioned that the analyzed sentences were cited from a literary work, and although the meanings and the classification discussed are considered applicable to causative sentences in different registers (i.e. non-fiction writing or spoken language, etc.), the usage of the -(sa)seru causative itself might differ in non- literary Japanese. 4.1 Manipulation Fukada’s manipulative meaning is defined as follows – when the causee has no propensity over the caused action, such as in Fukada’s example where the patient cannot take the medicine on their own and the causer (presumably doctor or caretaker) has to bring about the event, i.e. make the patient take the medicine (Fukada, 2010, p. 29). There is a representative example in Noruwei no mori. (4) JP: 緑は父親に水さしの水を少し飲ませ、果物かフルーツ・ゼリーを食べ たくないかと訊いた。 Midori wa chichioya ni mizusashi no mizu o sukoshi nomase, kudamono ka furūtsu zerī o tabetakunai ka to kīta. (Noruwei no mori, Part 2, p. 73) EN: ‘Midori gave her father a drink of water and asked if he’d like a piece of fruit or some jellied fruit dessert.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 241) CR: ‘Midori je ocu dala da popije vode i pitala bi li pojeo neko voće ili voćni žele.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 209) 10 Although no example sentences with animal agents are cited in this work, such would be classified as {-human, +animate}. The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 91 Midori {+human, +animate} comes to take care of her sick father {+human, +animate} and therefore has to provoke and carry out the action herself since he is unable to do it by himself. The same interpretation can also be applied to the following example. (5) JP: あなたが真剣に直子を回復させたいと望んでいるなら、そうしなさ い。 Anata ga shinken ni Naoko o kaifukusasetai to nozondeirunara, sō shinasai. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 236) EN: ‘That’s what you should do if you’re serious about making Naoko well again.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 153) CR: ‘Tako se moraš ponašati ako zbilja želiš da Naoko ozdravi. (Norveška šuma, p. 135)’ Although Naoko {+human, +animate} knows she is sick and is hospitalised, the people {+human, +animate} around her (such as Watanabe – the “あなた” in the sentence) can also help her get well. In that case, Naoko herself cannot do what she does not perceive, which would make her unable to perform that specific action of “making better” (回復する). Although in this instance there is no direct influence of the causer on the causee as in Fukada’s example11 (since a third person is the speaker), it still points to an action the causee has no propensity to perform on her own, and the causer (Watanabe) brings about the action, i.e. helping Naoko get better. In the English example, “making Naoko well again” implies that Naoko herself is not actively participating in the action, i.e. somebody is doing it (making her better) instead of her. A nuance of Naoko’s more active participation in her recovery could be expressed through paraphrasing, such as “if you’re serious about helping Naoko get better/well again”, although that nuance remains rather weak. The Croatian sentence does not imply a strong nuance of the causer’s participation, but rather only their desire to do so (“ako zbilja želiš da (…)” if you really want to (…)). 4.2 Hands-off or non-involvement The hands-off interpretation is one that might arguably cause questions on why a causative verb would be used to express such a meaning and/or situation. Namely, hands-off is where a causative action is not shown to have necessarily been provoked by the causer, and involves an inanimate causee (Fukada, 2010, p. 29), and could therefore possibly be interpreted as a natural course of events such as in Fukada’s 11 “Kizetsu shiteiru kanja ni kusuri o nomaseta.” (Fukada, 2010, p. 29). 92 Petra JAKLIN example “Niku o kusaraseta.”. This example was translated as “(Someone) let the meat spoil.” and is presented as the most passive form of causation (Fukada, 2010, pp. 29– 30). In the original definition of a hands-off meaning the causer is not expressed (although presumably animate {+human, +animate}) while the causee is inanimate {- human, -animate}. However, let us look at the following example. (6) JP: 交通を規制するパトカーが残って路上でライトをぐるぐると回せてい た。 Kōtsū o kisēsuru patokā ga nokotte rojō de raito o guruguru to mawaseteita. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 163) EN: ‘One police car remained to direct traffic, its rooftop light spinning.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 105) CR: ‘Jedan policijski automobil ostao je regulirati promet, a na krovu mu se vrtjela plava svjetiljka.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 94) Both the causer and the causee are inanimate, and the causer cannot be in a position of power in comparison to the causee. In example (6), it is logical to assume that a car as an inanimate entity cannot perform an action, so presumably there is another, animate causer “hidden” in the sentence, similar to Fukada’s “someone” {+human, +animate}. This describes indirect causation and is similar to the example presented by Neeleman and van de Koot (2012, p. 6). The only possibility of the action happening is if the car was operated by an animate being, such as a human driver, causing it to turn on and switching on the lights. Thus, it could be argued that the real causer is the person in the car, acting as a non-expressed causer, illustrated in the schematic below: [causer(1)(person) → causee(1)(car) ⇒ causer(2)(car) → causee(2)(light) {+human, +animate} {-human, -animate} ⇒ {-human, -animate}* {-human, -animate} ↓ direct causation+ direct causation ↓ indirect causation *personified Figure 1: The relationships of causer(s) and causee(s) in example (6) The causative action is divided into two parts: a person {+human, +animate} turning the car {-human, -animate} on, and then the car ({-human, -animate} but personified) indirectly through the person making the lights {-human, -animate} spin. Although an inanimate object, a car is thought to be a causer in this sentence, as it is The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 93 personified and as such the causer of the action. Each of these two actions separately are direct causative actions, but the whole sentence has indirect causation. Although not explicit, it is followed by a logical conclusion that there has to be another causer bringing up the event of making the car rotate the lights, making it an indirect causative event brought about by an animate causer(1) and causing a chain reaction. In both English and Croatian, a car is the subject and the above interpretation is applicable, i.e. there has to be somebody (a person) not referred to in the sentences operating the car. The light is seen to be part of the car (expressed by “its” in English and “mu” in Croatian) and considered a whole (car+light). Sentences such as “One police car remained to direct traffic, making the rooftop light spin /spinning the rooftop light. ” / “Jedan policijski automobil ostao je regulirati promet, a na krovu je vrtio plavu svjetiljku.” are not considered to be natural. The other possible subdivision of hands-off meaning is similar to the abovementioned: (7) JP: 夏の名残りの光が煙を余計にぼんやりと曇らせていた。 Natsu no nagori no hikari ga kemuri o yokē ni bonyari to kumoraseteita. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 125) EN: ‘The fading summer light gave the smoke a soft and cloudy look.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 80) CR: ‘U ljetnom sumraku dim je djelovao meko i mutno.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 73) The animate causer is not mentioned nor involved in the event, i.e. has no connection with the action taking place since it is a natural phenomenon – the light (causer(1)) {-human, -animate} shone on the smoke (causee) {-human, -animate}, making it scatter. The only way an animate causer could have been involved in the action is to have been able to observe it; there is also no power relation between the inanimate causer and causee. Similarly, in both the English and the Croatian sentences the animate causer is not referred to, with the only causer being the “fading summer light”and “ljetni sumrak” respectively. A similar interpretation could be employed when an animate causer (1) has no direct influence or involvement in the causative action: 94 Petra JAKLIN (8) JP: 突撃隊は世界中の人を楽しい気持ちにさせるようだった。 Totsugekitai wa sekaijū no hito o tanoshii kimochinisaseru yō datta. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 133) EN: ‘Storm Trooper gave Midori an especially big laugh, as he seemed to do with all the world’s people.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 85) CR: ‘Smeđekošuljaš je posebno nasmijao Midori, kao, uostalom, i sve druge.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 78) In (8), the “Storm Trooper” a.k.a. Watanabe’s roommate has no idea that Watanabe is using his peculiar habits as comic relief, and therefore has no control over the action. However, such an interpretation is heavily reliant on the context, since without it the sentence implies that “Storm Trooper” is, in fact, actively and knowingly participating in the action. The same conclusion can be drawn for the English and Croatian examples, i.e. they make “Storm Trooper” seem like an active participant in the action (“Storm Trooper gave Midori an especially big laugh (…)” / “Smeđekošuljaš je posebno nasmijao Midori”), and not just a character in his roommate’s story. In Japanese, oftentimes a sentence’s causer and causee are one and the same, with the causee being either the causer’s body part or the causer’s feelings or mental state (see Glumac (2015, pp. 32–35); also mentioned in Jaklin (2020)). Such sentences will be classified as a type of hands-off sentence, and in the sentences in Noruwei no mori, the causer either has a degree of control over the causative action (9), or doesn’t (10). (9) JP: 「いつも自分を変えよう、向上させようとしていたけれど」と直子は ソファーの上で脚を組みなおした。(ノルウェイの森(上), p. 261) “Itsumo jibun o kaeyō, kōjousaseyō to shiteitakeredo” to Naoko wa sofa no ue de ashi o kuminaoshita. *「[彼（きずき）は]いつも自分を変えよう、向上させようとしていた けれど」と直子はソファーの上で脚を組みなおした。 *“[kare (Kizuki) wa] itsumo jibun o kaeyō, kōjousaseyō to shiteitakeredo” to Naoko wa sofa no ue de ashi o kuminaoshita. EN: ‘He did keep trying to change himself, to improve himself, though.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 169) CR: ‘Ali trudio se promijeniti, poboljšati.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 148) The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 95 (10) JP: 「一緒に死んでくれるの？」と緑は目をかがやかせて言った。 “Isshoni shinde kureru no?” to Midori wa me o kagayakasete itta. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 155) EN: ‘“You’ll die with me?” Midori asked with shining eyes.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 100) CR: ‘Umrijet ćeš sa mnom? - pitala me Midori blistavih očiju.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 90) In (10), Midori’s eyes shining is not her doing, but a physical reaction to her emotional state. Although it’s her own body, she has no control over it and is therefore classified as hands-off. In the English (“with shining eyes”) and Croatian (“blistavih očiju” with sparkling eyes), Midori’s non-involvement in her eyes’ condition is easily understandable, since the sentences describe the state of her eyes as “shiny”, and not as an action in which Midori is a participant. On the other hand, in 9), Kizuki himself tried to consciously change who he is, putting pressure on himself12, making him an active participant in an action that results in a change upon his (mental) person. Kizuki’s involvement in the action upon himself is translated into English and Croatian by the usage of the reflexive “himself” and the reflexive verb “se promijeniti, poboljšati” respectively. Another hands-off, no-power, no-control interpretation is possible when an inanimate causer influences an animate causee. (11) JP: そしてそのメロディーはいつものように僕を混乱させた。 Soshite sono merodī-wa itsumo no yōni boku o konransaseta. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 7) EN: ‘The melody never failed to send a shiver through me, but this time it hit me harder than ever.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 3) CR: ‘Od te bih melodije uvijek duboko uzdrhtao, ali ovoga puta potresla me jače nego ikad.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 9) An inanimate entity cannot really exert power and “make” and animate, conscious one do its bidding, but it is influencing it, i.e. the melody {-human, -animate} is making a person feel different emotions.13 The influence of the music is, in this case, out of the causee’s control. 12 For a more detailed treatment of such sentences see Glumac (2015). 13 Shigemori-Bučar notes that the non-animate/non-volitional causers can be assumed to be characteristic of the literary genre, continuing to state that in the analysed passages such causers were usually natural phenomena, while some others were personified (2006, p. 200). 96 Petra JAKLIN The same can be understood from English and Croatian sentences. All four instances can be argued to be a part of the hands-off category since an animate entity (a person) has no direct control or involvement in a causative action. Therefore, although hands-off may be considered an umbrella term, I would classify the latter examples employing inanimate causers {-human, -animate} as showing non- involvement. The difference, although slight, between indirect causation and non- involvement would be that while indirect causation covers any causative action in which there is no direct correlation between causer A and causee B, no matter whether they are animate or inanimate, non-involvement would entail only inanimate {-human, -animate} causers. 4.3 Permission and enabling When expressing the “basic” causative meaning, permission presents the opposite of coercion, i.e. the causer allows or lets the causee perform the causative action instead of making them do it. Permission discussed here is much the same – the causee is assumed to be willing or desiring to carry out an action, meaning that the causative event will most likely occur (Fukada, 2010, p. 28). In the example below, Naoko (causee) seems to want to talk, so Watanabe (causer) lets her do so. (12) JP: でも直子がそんなに夢中になって話すのははじめてだったし、僕は 彼女にずっとしゃべらせておいた。 Demo Naoko ga sonnani muchū ni natte hanasu no wa hajimete dattashi, boku wa kanojo ni zutto shaberaseteoita. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 82-83) EN: ‘I have never heard her speak with such intensity before, and so I did nothing to interrupt her.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 52) CR: ‘Nikada je prije nisam čuo da govori s takvim žarom, pa je nisam prekidao.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 50) No major differences occur in the English and Croatian sentences, except for the nuance that more than “letting Naoko speak”, i.e. giving direct permission, the causer “does not interrupt Naoko”/” (pa) je nisam prekidao”, i.e. passively allows the action to take place by not interfering. However, permission does not entail only giving, denying or asking for permission in the following sentence. The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 97 (13) JP: そしてそういう気持ちにさせてくれたことだけで、私は彼に心から 感謝したわ。 Soshite sōiu kimochi ni sasetekureta koto dake de, watashi wa kare ni kokoro kara kanshashita wa. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 245) EN: ‘If only for having made me feel that way, I was tremendously grateful to him.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 159) CR: ‘Ako ni zbog čega drugoga, bila sam mu silno zahvalna što je u meni probudio te osjećaje.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 140) In (13), no permission is actually asked for or given, but the causee {+human, +animate} was able to feel something that made her grateful to the causer {+human, +animate}. In this case, the causative action represents what Žagar-Szentesi described as “enabling”14 when discussing the causative meaning of the Croatian construction “dati (se)+infinitive” (2011, p. 303). In such cases, permission is not given but the causer helps, enables, or supports the causee (see also Hayatsu, (2016)15), exemplified by the following sentence. (14) JP: 朝起きて家事して子どもの世話して、彼が帰ってきたらごはん食べ させて…毎日毎日がそのくりかえし。 Asa okite kajishite kodomo no sewashite, kare ga kaettekitara gohan tabesasete… mainichi mainichi ga sono kurikaeshi. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 247) EN: ‘I’d get up in the morning and do the housework and take care of the baby and feed my husband when he came home from work. It was the same thing day after day, but I was happy.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 160) CR: ‘Ujutro bih ustala i obavila kućanske poslove, te se brinula o djetetu i kuhala mužu ručak kad bi došao s posla. Svaki dan isto, ali bila sam sretna.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 141) In the above example, the meaning intended was not that Reiko (causer) spoon- fed her husband (causee) as though he were unable to do so himself, but rather that by cooking food she enabled and made it possible for him to have dinner. Neither did she “allow” him to eat, as they were a married couple on equal grounds, and she had no reason or power to stop him from eating the lunch she made for him. 14 „Dopuštanje/omogućavanje drugoj osobi da nešto radi (permission/enabling another person to do something; author’s translation) (Žagar-Szentesi 2011, p. 303). 15 Hayatsu (2016) discusses みちびき (michibiki) in Japanese causative sentences, where the result of the action is favourable for the causee, with the causer providing “guidance”. 98 Petra JAKLIN Therefore, in cases where permission does not fit the mould either because it was not asked for, the causer is in no position to give it, or the situation does not call for it, i.e. there is no power play between the causer and the causee, the meaning expressed is that of enabling the causee to do the specified causative action. 4.4 Sociative causative Sociative causative sentences involve participation of a causer, but unlike the manipulative interpretation in which the causee is passive, both the causer and the causee are animate {+human, +animate} and actively (willingly) participate in the action. As Fukada (2010) exemplifies, the pragmatic inference associated with this interpretation might be assistive, e.g. a mother assisting her young child in the toilet (Fukada, 2010, p. 31). In Noruwei no mori, sociative causation can be seen as used for general social norms, where there is no pressure expressed or intended by the causer, and the causee does the action willingly, almost unconsciously following a pattern of behaviour in social occasions, such as being encouraged to sit in the following situation: (15) JP: 「あなたはここの冬を知らないからそう言うのよ」とレイコさんは 僕の背中を叩いてソファーに座らせ、自分もそのとなりに座った。 “Anata wa kono fuyu o shiranai kara sō iu no yo” to Reiko-san wa boku no senaka o tataite sofā ni suwarase, jibun mo sono tonari ni suwatta. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 211) EN: ‘“Ah but you haven’t seen the winters here,” said Reiko, touching my back to guide me to the sofa and sitting down next to me.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 137) CR: ‘- E, ali niste vidjeli kakve su ovdje zime - rekla je Reiko, lagano me gurnuvši prema kauču i sjedajući kraj mene.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 121) Although the sentence looks as though it were coercive, Reiko (causer) does not pressure Watanabe (causee) to do anything - she suggests he sit down by touching him on the back, and then sitting herself. Therefore, as there is no explicit pressure from the causer, and the causee accepts and does the action willingly, the action can be classified as sociative – it fulfils a social norm of a guest (Watanabe, causee) taking the seat offered by the host (Reiko, causer), making both the causer and the causee participate in the action. Another example is the case of Naoko’s sister asking Naoko about her day and listening to her talk; the older sister encourages her little sister and takes interest in the events of her little sister’s day: The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 99 (16) JP: 私が学校から戻ると部屋に呼んで、隣りに座らせて、私のその日い ちにちのことを聞くの。 Watashi ga gakkō kara modoru to heya ni yonde, tonari ni suwarasete, watashi no sono hinichi no koto o kiku no. (Noruwei no mori, Part 1, p. 296) EN: ‘When I came home from school, she’d call me into her room and sit me down next to her and ask me about my day.’ (Norwegian wood, p. 193) CR: ‘Kad bih se vratila iz škole, pozvala bi me u svoju sobu, posjela kraj sebe i pitala kako sam provela dan.’ (Norveška šuma, p. 168) As the little sister, Naoko is in a position of less power compared to her sister, but her older sister does not take advantage of her own higher status. The action is consensual and welcomed by both the causer and the causee, with no amount of pressure exerted by the causer. In neither of the English or Croatian sentences presented in this section is there any nuance of “force” or pressure to do the action that was expressed through linguistic means. 5 The meanings and expressions in English and Croatian There is no uniform way of expressing each causative meaning presented, but there are possibilities of expression that can serve as guidelines when transferring the causative meanings in other languages, in this case English and Croatian. For some meanings causative expressions might not differ from the expressions of coercion or permission in general, and the intention behind the sentence needs to be understood through the context – manipulation is one of such meanings. Manipulative sentences do not differ significantly from the possible coercive interpretation and the meaning is contextual; some sentences tend to use milder expressions of coercion, for ex. “feeding him/hraniti ga” instead of “make him eat/tjerati ga da jede”, which also carry the meaning of the causer physically doing the action (giving food to somebody and them eating it). The nuance of “helping” or “being of assistance” was expressed as well with the expression such as “give (him) water/daš (mu) vode”. There appeared various constructions in the English translation (Norwegian wood), but generally the Japanese manipulative meaning did not noticeably differ from the coercive. Coercion was expressed more strongly in some instances, such as “make (a girl) say/prisiljavaš da kaže“, as a causer’s wish (“I wanted to finish making my point/htio sam istjerati svoje”), an obligation (“we’ve got to put a stop to (it)/moramo to zaustaviti”) or internal obligation of the causer (“he did keep trying (…) to improve (himself)/trudio se (...) poboljšati”), or through paraphrasing. 100 Petra JAKLIN In both English and Croatian, the inanimate causer was the subject of the sentence when expressing hands-off and non-involvement causation. Hands-off and non- involvement sentences used a plethora of different linguistic expressions, meaning that a uniform way of expressing these meanings was not observed16. As was the case with the inanimate Japanese causers (e.g. grass, sunlight, car, etc.), the English and Croatian causers were personified (as Shigemori-Bučar (2006) noted), not hinting to a person’s involvement in the causative action, despite the logical conclusion that a person had to have been involved. Permission and enabling did not always significantly differ in the expressions used, but in Croatian the “dati (se) + infinitive” (Žagar-Szentesi, 2011) expression could be an appropriate choice when transferring the nuance of enabling when both the causer and causee are animate. Although is not always possible or observed, the distinction between permission and enabling is clearer than between manipulation and coercion. The reason for this is that sentences analysed as permissive sometimes used clearer expressions of permission than the coercive sentences did for duress, such as the verb “let/pustiti” (e.g. “let me sleep, let her talk herself out, etc. /pusti me da spavam, [...] je pustim da sama prestane pričati“), since coercive sentences did not tend to use verbs with a strong coercive meaning, e.g. to make, to force/natjerati, tjerati, prisiliti. Enabling did not express actual permitting, nor was it suggested in the context of the sentences. The sociative causative does not use any specific causative expressions in English or Croatian, although there is an overall use of polite language in different social occasions. What distinguishes these sentences is also the lack of any kind of pressure put on the causee by the causer (similar to enabling), e.g. “(she) got a laugh from them/nasmijala ih je”. The situations in which the sociative causative is used could have, similar to some variations of hands-off, been expressed without the use of the causative. 6 Summary In this paper the possible interpretations of Japanese causative sentences have been discussed, and the meanings they can convey according to both the context in which they are used and according to the expression of the causer and the causee. The analysis touched upon the sentences’ transfer of meaning into English and Croatian as well, but the main aim of the paper was the discussion of Japanese causative sentences’ nuances of meaning. Rather than translation, which is out of scope of this paper, the 16 Croatian reflexive verbs with the se pronoun such as “lelujale se (set swaying)”, “[mozak mi] se pokrenuo (I got my head working) were used (amongst others) where the causee is the subject of the sentence and the action is performed by, and on, that subject alone. The many meanings of the Japanese causative: … 101 possibilities of expression in the two languages mentioned serve as indicators of meaning and a point for understanding the causative meaning. Through the analysis of example sentences, I focused on the possible meaning a sentence can convey, since classifying it simply as “coercive” or “permissive” poses an obstacle for understanding causation in the Japanese language. Although the analysis did not show major variations from those in pervious research (as summarised in Table1. below), it did illuminate some peculiarities, and can serve as a guideline for the ways of expression in English and Croatian; however, more often than not the way a causative sentence will be understood and expressed in another language heavily depends on the context and the placement of emphasis. One such example are manipulative causative sentences – although for expressing manipulation milder expressions of coercion and pressure can be used, no major difference in expressing a coercive and a manipulative meaning has been observed. On the other hand, permissive sentences were clearer in their meaning, and a subdivision of “enabling” has been discussed. The analysis and the points addressed so far have been summarised in Table 1 below: Table1: Causative sentence meanings and points Meaning Characteristics (Fukada, 2010) Variants (author) m an ip ul at iv e “[…] the causee has no propensity to do the caused action”, so the causer carries out the action (Fukada, 2010, p. 27) According to Fukada’s example, it was concluded that the meaning referred to the physical inability of the causee to carry out an action; the same interpretation can be used when the action in question is mental/not physical. [c oe rc iv e] the causee does not wish to carry out a causative action (2010, p. 28) the nuance of “pressure” is evident no variants observed There was not enough evidence to claim that there is a clear distinction in the expressions used for manipulative and coercive meanings, although when expressing manipulation, milder expressions might be preferable. pe rm is si ve / en ab lin g the causee is assumingly voluntarily carrying out a causative action (2010, p. 28) enabling*: a variation that was discussed as falling under the scope of “permissive” although no permission is granted; for “enabling”, both the causer and the causee are animate (human) and of equal standing, which means that the basic condition for a permissive meaning – the higher position of the person giving permission, is not met and therefore non-existent *based on Žagar-Szentesi (2011) 102 Petra JAKLIN ha nd s- of f involves an inanimate causee and the inference is that of not preventing (2010, p. 29–30) [author: the causer is not explicitly referred to, although it is logically assumed to be animate {+human, +animate}] inanimate causer and causee: it is proposed that in such cases there has to be an animate causer, however unknown as per original definition inanimate causer and animate causee: influence that cannot be controlled (ex. invoking memories) animate causer and causee: the causee is not directly involved in the action and/or is unaware that the action is taking place: the causee is the causer’s body part/psyche [a dv er si ty ] similar to the above “hands-off”, however the action has unwanted consequences on the causer, i.e. the inference is that of undesirability for the causer (2010, p. 30–31) No variants observed. so ci at iv e (Shibatani and Chung (2002)) sociative causation means that the causer is involved in the action “[…] in various capacities.” (Fukada, 2010, p. 23) “[…] inference not related to the propensity of the cause to perform the event is crucially involved […]”, which concerns the causer’s involvement in said event (2010, p. 31) not linguistically encoded (2010, p. 32). Since both the causer and the causee participate in a given action/event, the nuance of “pressure” usually inherently present in causative sentences is not there; rather, the action/event is assumed to be participated in willingly by both parties. Additionally, strengthened by the use of polite language, this meaning is connected to social norms/polite behaviour. 7 Conclusion This paper discussed possible meanings a causative sentence can be used to express based on the pragmatic meanings of causative sentences presented by Fukada (2010), as just labelling them “coercive” or “permissive” was felt to be inadequate. Rather than seen as equivalent to coercion, the causative can be a versatile verbal form with many possibilities of use. As Glumac (2015) stated, the meaning of a causative sentence is also dependent on the context; however, understanding the possibilities of expression helps choose the appropriate expression in another language – milder coercion used for the manipulative meaning and conveying the sense of helping another, enabling being different from permission and sociative causation used in the context of social conventions and politeness. Although the -(sa)seru causative sentences dealt with in this paper are one of, if not the most common way of expressing the causative in Japanese language, causation can also be expressed by using lexical causative verbs or the -temorau form. The latter might be considered as a topic of further study, both for the possible variation in causative meanings it is used to express, and the possible difficulty and variation in its translations. 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