Applicative Constructions in English and Japanese

This article investigates an applicative system that is available in English and Japanese. Bantu languages contain applicative phrases that correlate arguments and events; these have been termed high applicative (APPLPHIGH) by Pylkkänen (2008). Contra general assumption, I claim that APPLPHIGH is also employed in English and Japanese. More specifically, I propose that thematic domains are recursive in these languages. If the syntactically highest phrase is VoiceP in a thematic domain, another thematic domain generates above VoiceP ([TP [VoiceP ...[VoiceP]]]). APPLPHIGH can project in the higher thematic domain, when an indirect passive is derived in Japanese and a have construction in English. What is unique regarding the proposal is that arguments are merged to [Spec, APPLPHIGH] by either External or Internal Merge. Considering the Duality of Semantics (Chomsky 2021), it is necessary to clarify that the interpretation that is assigned in [Spec, APPLPHIGH] is related to both External and Internal merge. I resolve this issue by discussing the interpretation, namely affectedness. Importantly, the current framework can naturally capture two idiosyncratic properties of have constructions. One is that this construction can be interpreted with either causative or experiencer reading. The other is that this construction cannot cooccur with unaccusative verbs.