Causative Constructions with the Verb ‘boire’: A French-Polish Contrastive Analysis

Abstract

This paper analyses the French causative construction ‘faire boire’ and its equivalents in the Polish language. The basic causative predicate which translates the sense of faire boire is the verb ‘poić’ and its prefixal aspectual equivalents. The aim of the analysis is to observe the regularities that occur in the choice of the Polish verb at the moment of the translation of ‘faire boire’. The analysis shows that, depending on the meaning of ‘faire boire’ – one distinguished on the basis of a semantic-syntactic construction – the Polish language selects different verbs. The use that we can call prototypical is translated into Polish with ‘poić/napoić’, referring to both humans and animals. However, if N1 belongs to the class [alcohol], the Polish language selects either ‘napoić’ (meaning: not excessively), or ‘spoić’ (meaning: in excess). The presence of the quantifier in position N1 blocks the use of the verb ‘poić’. The French passive construction ‘se faire boire’ can be translated with the predicate ‘wsiąkać / wsiąknąć’, showing no causativity.