The curious case of the Hungarian complex causative suffix -AttAt

Abstract

Like all Uralic languages, Hungarian has a rich derivational and inflectional morphological system. In Hungarian, factitive causation is expressed in a fully regular way by the productive causative suffix -(t)At: -at, -et, -tat, -tet. Multiple causation can be expressed compositionally, i.e., by the iteration of this suffix. However, in today’s language use, -(t)At often alternates with the complex (iterated) -AttAt: -attat, -ettet suffix, to express simple causation. The paper discusses the morphological and syntactical context of the two variants, with an emphasis on -AttAt, and it examines its semantics in relation to simple and multiple causation. The early history of the two causative suffix variants is also considered, with special regard to their interaction with the passive suffix -(t)Atik. The paper demonstrates that although the Hungarian language has the means to distinguish between simple and multiple causation, and although language purists today condemn the “unnecessary” use of -AttAt, speakers did and do use this complex causative suffix to express simple factitive causation. Finally, the paper postulates the following motivating factors for this alternation: analogy with similar constructions (various multiple causatives and the passive), and fortition (iteration of the causative suffix without a change in meaning). In Hungarian, the -AttAt ending is used to express both simple and multiple causation, thus, it may be viewed as a case where the system of compositionality is overridden for usage-based reasons.