Accusative causee with intransitives

Level 4

The causative construction transforms an intransitive verb (e.g., 'to laugh') into a transitive one (e.g., 'to make laugh'). In this transformation, the person being made to act (the causee) is marked with the Accusative case.

How It Works

In Azerbaijani, the causative is a powerful tool for changing verb directionality.

1. The Accusative Rule (Core Formula):
If the base verb is intransitive (like gülmək 'to laugh' or oyanmaq 'to wake up'), the person or thing being acted upon normally takes the Accusative case. The original subject becomes a direct object; the identified people and pronouns shown here carry accusative marking. The structural formula is:
[Causer (Nominative)] + [Causee (Accusative)] + [Intransitive Base + Causative Suffix]

2. Formation with Intransitive Bases:
Learn the causative form with the verb: gül-mək → gül-dür-mək (laugh → make laugh), oyan-maq → oyan-dır-maq (wake up → wake someone), yat-maq → yat-ır-maq (sleep → put to sleep), and qorx-maq → qorx-ut-maq (fear → frighten). These show why one suffix cannot be attached mechanically to every stem. The common -dır/-dir/-dur/-dür family follows four-way vowel harmony.

Spelling and Speech:
The causative family is written with d, including after voiceless consonants. In connected speech, phonetic assimilation can devoice that sound; a pronunciation approaching bax-tır-maq does not change the standard spelling baxdırmaq. Keep the written form and its spoken realization separate.

Learn multiple causatives separately: adding another causer can change the participants and their case marking. It is not part of this simple intransitive-base pattern.

3. The Dative Contrast and Ditransitives:
It is important to note that if the base verb is already transitive (like yazmaq 'to write' or oxumaq 'to read'), the causee (the person being made to do the action) takes the Dative case instead. However, if the base verb is ditransitive (e.g., vermək 'to give'), where the Dative case is already occupied by the recipient, the causee is typically marked with a postposition like tərəfindən (by) or vasitəsilə (through/via).

4. Semantic Nuance:
The causative doesn't always imply force. Depending on the context, it can mean:

  • Compulsion: Making someone do something.
  • Permission: Letting someone do something.
  • Assistance: Helping someone do something.
  • Delegation / Service: Having something done by a professional or third party (e.g., saç kəsdirmək, maşını yudurtmaq).

Examples (5)

  1. Mən uşağı güldürdüm.

    I made the child laugh.

    Word by Word: I child-Accusative laugh-causative-past-I

    Gülmək (to laugh) is intransitive. By adding -dür, it becomes transitive, and 'child' (uşaq) takes the accusative suffix -ı.

  2. Səs məni oyandırdı.

    The noise woke me up.

    Word by Word: Noise me-Accusative wake.up-causative-past

    Oyanmaq (to wake up) is intransitive. The causative form 'oyandırmaq' makes the pronoun 'mən' (I) the direct object 'məni' (me).

  3. Müəllim tələbəni danışdırdı.

    The teacher made the student speak.

    Word by Word: Teacher student-Accusative speak-causative-past

    Danışmaq (to speak) is intransitive. The teacher causes the student to speak, so 'tələbə' (student) gets the accusative suffix -ni.

  4. Ana körpəni yatırır.

    The mother is putting the baby to sleep.

    Word by Word: Mother baby-Accusative sleep-causative-present

    Yatmaq (to sleep) is intransitive. The causative suffix -ır turns it into 'to put to sleep', requiring the baby (körpə) to be in the accusative case.

  5. Mən ona kitabı oxutdum.

    I made him/her read the book.

    Word by Word: I him-Dative book-Accusative read-causative-past-I

    Contrast: Oxumaq (to read) is transitive. Because it already has an object (kitabı), the causee (o) must take the dative case (ona).

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Dative case for the causee of an intransitive verb.

    Mən uşağa güldürdüm.
    Mən uşağı güldürdüm.

    In this sentence, uşağı identifies the child who laughs. Mark that causee as the direct object of güldürmək, not as a dative recipient.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Accusative causee with intransitivesLevel 4

Learn This First

To understand how to mark a causee with the accusative case, you first need to know how to form causative verbs using suffixes like -dır. You must also understand the function of the accusative case, which marks the direct object in Azerbaijani, as the causee of an intransitive verb effectively becomes the direct object of the new causative verb.

Sources
  1. M. Hüseynzadə — Müasir Azərbaycan Dili, Morphology (Ministry-approved university grammar)