Causative and applicative morphemes have been central in work on the morphosyntax of argument structure. However, several genetically unrelated languages use a single, syncretic form for both functions, which complicates the traditional view that a causative adds a new subject and an applicative adds a new object. In this paper, I propose an analysis of a morphological syncretism found in the Bantu language Kinyarwanda where the morphological causative and instrumental applicative are both realized by the morpheme –ish. I argue for Kinyarwanda that both causation and the introduction of an instrument are analyzable as two outgrowths of the same semantic notion of introducing a new link into the causal chain described by the verb. The different causative and instrumental readings derive from underspecification of the position of the new link in the causal chain, although its placement is restricted via general constraints on possible event types as well as constraints on verb meaning and argument realization. This analysis provides an explanation for the presence of the causative–instrumental syncretism as well as provides insight into the interface between verb meaning and valency-changing morphology.

中文翻译：

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使役-工具性融合

使役语素和应用语素一直是论元结构形态句法工作的核心。然而，一些基因上不相关的语言对这两种功能使用单一的融合形式，这使传统的观点变得复杂，即使役增加了一个新的主语，而应用程序增加了一个新的宾语。在本文中，我提出了对班图语基尼亚卢旺达语中的形态融合的分析，其中形态使役和工具应用都由语素实现——是的. 我为 Kinyarwanda 主张，因果关系和工具的引入都可以分析为相同语义概念的两个产物，即在动词描述的因果链中引入新链接。不同的使役和工具读法源于对因果链中新链接位置的指定不足，尽管它的位置受到对可能事件类型的一般约束以及对动词意义和论证实现的约束的限制。该分析为原因-工具融合的存在提供了解释，并提供了对动词意义和化合价变化形态之间的界面的洞察。