Encoding Causation and Aspect into Inflectional Domain: Syntax of Causation and Backward Control in Burmese

This paper investigates syntax of causation in Burmese, an understudied language spoken in Myanmar, with a special focus on one type of causative construction in Burmese. It largely resembles English object control verb force, but shows two interesting properties which differ from English force: (i) it involves an infinitival clause marker which causation and aspect are encoded in, and (ii) it displays a property of backward control. This paper documents and analyzes the causative construction in Burmese, aiming to provide new data and perspectives to develop formal syntactic theory of causation and control.