Chapter 12. Causative morphology in Macuiltianguis Zapotec

Kaufman (1994–2007) reconstructs three different protoZapotec causative morphemes: *(s)se, *o, and *k. Reflexes of all three are found in the modern Northern Zapotec language of Macuiltianguis Zapotec (MacZ). However, in MacZ they are not all valency increasing morphemes associated with causative semantics as evidenced by the fact that they cooccur on verbs marking only a single causative event. In this paper, we argue that in MacZ, only d(i), the reflex of *(s)se, bears causative semantics. The *o reflex is associated with agentive subjects, but not necessarily causativity, while *k’s association with causatives may have derived from protoZapotec *k(i), a potential aspect prefix.