Functions and forms of expression of the semantic subject in constructions with causative meaning (the evidence of French and Russian)

Chervony A. M., Pavlenko A. E.

The article considers the functions of the semantic subject and its forms of expression in the causative constructions in the French and Russian languages. The evidence of the languages in question is analysed by means of the comparative-typological, component and lexico-semantic methods. The functions of the causer and the real doer both can be accumulated in one person and can be distributed among the participants of the situation. The functions of the semantic subject are represented in the causative constructions of the French and Russian languages by syncretic or discrete forms of expression. The real doer in the causative constructions of the said languages and the reflexive-causative constructions of the French language can be expressed with varying degrees of certainty: from specific forms of expression up to its full formal reduction.

Keywords:semantic subject, causative construction, reflexive-causative construction, function, form of expression, syncretic, discrete, implicit