Questionnaire

General

This questionnaire contains 54 stimulus sentences constructed for a typological study of nominal causal constructions. A nominal causal construction is a causal construction in which the causing event is syntactically represented by a noun phrase (henceforward a causal noun phrase), cf. The woman is shivering from [the cold] or The woman was late for work because of [her husband] in English (see Project description for details). This questionnaire can be used for exploring the ways in which nominal causal markers, such as from and because of in the examples above, are distributed among causal contexts in individual languages. For this reason, the stimulus sentences display various combinations of potentially relevant semantic properties, as discussed in the “Questionnaire design” section below.

How to cite

If you use this questionnaire, please make a reference to the following work:

Say, Sergey. In print. Imennye pričinnye konsrukcii: parametry tipologičeskoj variativnosti i issledovatel’skaja anketa [Nominal causal constructions: parameters of typological variability and a research questionnaire]. Natalia Zaika (ed.). Tipologija pričinnyx konstrukcij. St. Petersburg: ILI RAN.

Questionnaire design

The stimulus sentences in the questionnaire below are given consecutive numeric identifiers (1–54). For the sake of readability, causal noun phrases are given in square brackets, and the markers employed in the interlanguage (English or Russian) are given in angle brackets. Whenever necessary, stimulus sentences are provided with some external context given in curly brackets.

Language-specific studies into nominal causal constructions have identified a number of semantic parameters that can be relevant for the choice among nominal causal markers in certain contexts (see Project description for details). These studies mainly focused on major European languages and cannot be expected to offer a full list of potentially relevant parameters. Nevertheless, the questionnaire was designed in such a way as to systematically represent five parameters that had been identified in available literature. The values of these parameters are predefined for the stimulus sentences as shown in the questionnaire below. The five parameters and their values are the following.

Semantic type

The vast majority of causal constructions in actual discourse denote ontological causes. In these constructions, the causing event triggers the caused event in external reality, cf. ‘The man is screaming [the pain]’. An epistemic cause is a state-of-affairs A, such that knowing A makes it possible for the speaker to infer a certain proposition B (syntactically represented as the “caused event”); these constructions often involve causality reversal when compared to ontological causal constructions, cf. ‘ [the bubbles], the water is boiling’ (epistemic cause) vs. ‘There are bubbles because the water is boiling’ (ontological cause). A logical cause is a proposition whose truth logically implies a certain conclusion, cf. ‘This number is divisible by 3 because it is divisible by 9’. Nominal causal constructions rarely belong to this type, but stimulus sentence 54 ‘ [mathematical law], this number cannot be less than one’ is a candidate for this group. Finally, clausal constructions sometimes belong to the illocutive type, in which the state-of-affairs represented as the “causing event” is actually the cause of the speaker’s illocutionary act, such as a question or a command, cf. ‘Come into the house, because it is cold outside’. In English, nominal causal constructions cannot belong to the illocutive type (cf. *Come into the house because of the cold). However, theoretically such constructions are possible, and stimulus sentences 52 and 53 can be used for eliciting these structures. Constructions involving epistemic, logical and illocutive causes are in a sense marginal. Further predefined semantic distinctions captured in the questionnaire are only applicable to constructions involving ontological causes.

Objective vs. subjective causes

By means of objective causal constructions the speaker captures the causal link between two states of affairs in external reality (cf. ‘The woman was late for work [her husband]. {He forgot his car keys at home}’). *Subjective causal constructions denote causes that motivate a volitional (human) being to act in a certain way (cf. ‘The woman bought the book [the pictures]’).

Direct vs. indirect

A direct causing event is immediately linked to the caused event (cf. ‘The tree fell [the wind]’). By contrast, causal chains with indirect causes involve additional causal links between the causing and the caused events that remain implicit. In ‘The people died [the earthquake]. {The miners were trapped in a mineshaft and could not be saved}’, for example, the earthquake caused the mineshaft to collapse, which led to some unnamed physiological conditions (suffocation? starvation?) that in their turn eventually caused the miners’ death.

Internal vs. external causes

Internal causes are rooted in a participant’s (normally, a person’s) characteristics or condition (‘The child began to cry [fear]’). External causes are located outside of the participant’s body and cognitive system (cf. ‘The woman woke up [the noise]’).

Taxis

This parameter captures the relative position of the causing event and the caused event on the time axis. Two clear cases are simultaneous and anterior causes. A simultaneous causing event takes place at the same time as the caused event (‘We can’t see the shore [the darkness]’). An anterior causing event precedes the caused event, as in ‘The man has a headache [the beer]’, where drinking beer happens before the drinker’s head starts to ache. However, many stimulus sentences are hard to squeeze into this dichotomy; they are marked as “n.a.” for this parameter.

English version

(The Russian version of the questionnaire can be found below.)

No	sentence	type	obj/subj	dir/indir	inter/exter	taxis
1	The handkerchief got soaked <from> [tears].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
2	The branch broke <from> [the weight].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
3	The woman is coughing <because of> [the smoke].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
4	We can’t see the shore <because of> [the darkness].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
5	The man was arrested <by> [mistake]. {He has the same name as the criminal}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
6	The tree fell <due to> [the wind].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
7	The man died <from> [electric shock] {immediately}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
8	The woman woke up <from> [the noise].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
9	The man has a headache <from> [the beer].	ontological	objective	direct	external	anterior
10	{The puppy tumbled over in a funny way}. The woman laughed <at> [the puppy].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
11	The man died <from> [a poisonous fish] {2 days after poisoning}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	anterior
12	The girl is satisfied <with> [her grade].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
13	{The man said something bad}. The wife was angered <by> [her husband’s words].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
14	The boy was thrilled <by> [this idea]. {His dad has suggested to go watch football}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
15	The man was weakened <by> [hunger].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
16	The man died <of> [starvation].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
17	The man is screaming <from> [the pain].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
18	The woman is shivering <from> [the cold].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
19	The child began to cry <out of> [fear].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
20	The child laughed <with> [joy].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
21	The child hid in the barn <out of> [fear].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
22	The man kept silent <out of> [modesty].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
23	The woman grabbed her brother’s hand <in> [fear].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
24	The woman is tired <from> [work].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	anterior
25	The woman can’t fall asleep <because of> [the mosquitoes].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	simultaneous
26	The water looks bright <because of> [the moon].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	simultaneous
27	<Thanks to> [his dog], the man had a successful hunt.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	simultaneous
28	{The man said something bad}. The wife was angry <at> [her husband].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	n.a.
29	The woman was late for work <because of> [her husband]. {He forgot his car keys at home}.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
30	The people died <because of> [the earthquake]. {The miners were trapped in a mineshaft and could not be saved}.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
31	All misfortunes happen <because of> [humans/people].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	n.a.
32	The man can see better now <thanks to> [the operation].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
33	The woman is alive <thanks to> [that man]. {He found her when she got lost in the forest}.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
34	The man told his wife about it <out of> stupidity].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	simultaneous
35	The woman slipped <because of> [carelessness].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	simultaneous
36	The pilot was able to land the plane <thanks to> [his experience].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	anterior
37	The pilot could not land the plane <due to> [inexperience].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	n.a.
38	In wartime, people ate grass <out of> [hunger].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
39	The woman went inside <out of> [curiosity].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
40	The man killed his wife <out of> [jealousy].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
41	The man told everyone about it <out of> [vanity].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
42	The woman broke all the dishes <out of> [anger].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
43	The woman went to sleep clothed <because of> [the cold]. {Her furnace was broken}.	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	simultaneous
44	The teacher commended the student <for> [his suit].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	n.a.
45	The man killed his neighbor <because of> [his words].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	anterior
46	The children fought <over> [the ball].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	n.a.
47	The man argued with his brother <over> [the inheritance].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	n.a.
48	The woman bought the book <because of> [the pictures].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	simultaneous
49	The woman canceled plans with her friend <because of> [her bad mood].	ontological	subjective	indirect	internal	simultaneous
50	<Judging by> [the puddles], it rained last night.	epistemic	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
51	<Judging by> [the bubbles], the water is boiling.	epistemic	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
52	Come into the house, <?> [the cold].	illocutive	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
53	Where is my sweater <?> [the cold].	illocutive	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
54	<Per> [mathematical law], this number cannot be less than one.	logical	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.

Russian version

No	sentence	type	obj/subj	dir/indir	inter/exter	taxis
1	Платок намок <от> [слез].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
2	Ветка сломалась <от> [тяжести].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
3	Женщина кашляет <от> [дыма].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
4	Мы не видим берег <из-за> [темноты].	ontological	objective	direct	external	simultaneous
5	Мужчину арестовали <по> [ошибке]. {Он однофамилец преступника}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
6	Дерево упало <от> [ветра].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
7	Мужчина погиб <от> [удара тока] {сразу}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
8	Женщина проснулась <от> [шума].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
9	У мужчины <от> [пива] болит голова.	ontological	objective	direct	external	anterior
10	{Щенок смешно кувыркается} Женщина рассмеялась <?> [щенок].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
11	Мужчина умер <от> [ядовитой рыбы] {через два дня после отравления}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	anterior
12	Девочка довольна [своей оценкой].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
13	{Мужчина сказал что-то плохое}. Жена рассердилась <на> [слова мужа].	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
14	Мальчик в восторге <от> [этой идеи] {папа предложил ему сходить на футбол}.	ontological	objective	direct	external	n.a.
15	Мужчина ослабел <от> [голода].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
16	Мужчина умер <от> [голода].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
17	Мужчина кричит <от> [боли].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
18	Женщина дрожит <от> [холода].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
19	Ребенок заплакал <от> [страха].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
20	Ребенок рассмеялся <от> [радости].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
21	Ребенок <от> [страха] спрятался в сарае[1].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
22	Мужчина <по> [скромности] промолчал.	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
23	Женщина <в> [страхе] схватила брата за руку.	ontological	objective	direct	internal	simultaneous
24	Женщина устала <от> [работы].	ontological	objective	direct	internal	anterior
25	Женщина не может заснуть <из-за> [комаров].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	simultaneous
26	Вода кажется светлой <из-за> [луны].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	simultaneous
27	Мужчина удачно сходил на охоту <благодаря> [собаке].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	simultaneous
28	{Мужчина сказал что-то плохое}. Жена рассердилась <на> [мужа][2].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	n.a.
29	Женщина опоздала на работу <из-за> [мужа] {он забыл дома ключи от машины}.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
30	Люди погибли <из-за> [землетрясения] {шахтеры оказались заперты в шахте, и их не смогли спасти}.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
31	Все беды происходят <из-за> [человека / людей].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	n.a.
32	Мужчина стал лучше видеть <благодаря> [операции].	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
33	Женщина жива <благодаря> [этому мужчине] {он нашел ее, когда она заблудилась в лесу}.	ontological	objective	indirect	external	anterior
34	Мужчина рассказал об этом жене <по> [глупости].[3]	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	simultaneous
35	Женщина поскользнулась <по> [неосторожности].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	simultaneous
36	Пилот смог посадить самолет <благодаря> [большому опыту].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	anterior
37	Пилот не смог посадить самолет <из-за> [неопытности].	ontological	objective	indirect	internal	n.a.
38	Во время войны люди <с> [голода] ели траву.	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
39	Женщина зашла внутрь <из> [любопытства].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
40	Мужчина убил жену <из> [ревности].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
41	Мужчина всем об этом рассказал <из> [тщеславия].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
42	Женщина разбила всю посуду <от> [злости].	ontological	subjective	direct	internal	simultaneous
43	Женщина легла спать одетой <из-за> [холода][4] {у нее сломалась печка}.	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	simultaneous
44	Учитель похвалил ученика <за> [его костюм].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	n.a.
45	Мужчина побил соседа <за> [его слова].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	anterior
46	Дети подрались <из-за> [мяча].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	n.a.
47	Мужчина поссорился с братом <из-за> [наследства].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	n.a.
48	Женщина купила эту книгу <из-за> [рисунков].	ontological	subjective	indirect	external	simultaneous
49	Женщина не стала встречаться с подругой <из-за> [плохого настроения].	ontological	subjective	indirect	internal	simultaneous
50	<Судя по> [лужам], ночью шел дождь.	epistemic	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
51	<Судя по> [пузырькам], вода уже закипела.	epistemic	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
52	Заходи в дом <?> [холод].[1]	illocutive	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
53	Где мой свитер <?> [холод]?	illocutive	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
54	Это число не может быть меньше единицы <в силу> [математических законов].	logical	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.