Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

‘They killed the man by stabbing him three times.’
Causation can also be expressed by means of a complex sentence containing verbs like
zorla- ‘force’ (24.4.1.3 (58)), sağla- ‘ensure’ or yol aç- ‘cause’ (24.4.2.2 (84)).
13.2.1.1 Multiple occurrences of the causative suffix
The causative suffix can also attach to a stem already containing a causative suffix:
(35) Su-lar-ı durmadan temizlikçi-ye balkon-dan aşağı ak-ıt-tır-ıyor.
water-PL-ACC continuously cleaner-DAT balcony-ABL down flow-CAUS-
CAUS-IMPF
‘S/he is always getting/making the cleaner (to) run the water down off the
balcony.’
Whether the root verb is intransitive or transitive, causative sentences without a dativemarked
noun phrase (indicated in brackets above) are more common than those that have
one. In the event of the dative noun phrase being omitted from (35), the sentence would
mean ‘S/he is always getting the water run down off the balcony’.
If the root verb is transitive (e.g. kes- ‘cut’), an additional causative suffix is often
used simply as a means of emphasizing causation, but it may also imply the addition of
another intermediary. In most cases, a transitive stem with two causative suffixes is
identical in meaning to its single causative counterpart:
(36)
The verb phrase 133
(a) Saç-ım-ı kes-tir-di-m.
hair-1SG.POSS-ACC cut-CAUS-PF-1S
‘I had my hair cut.’
(b) Saçımı kes-tir-t-ti-m.
cut-CAUS-CAUS-PF-1SG
‘I had my hair cut.’
If the causee is expressed, the addition of a second causative is generally preferred:
(37) Saçımı berber-e kes-tir-t-ti-m.
hairdresser-DAT cut-CAUS-CAUS-PF-1S
‘I got the hairdresser to cut my hair.’
The double occurrence of the causative is even more clearly preferred when the causee
and the beneficiary are both expressed in the sentence:
(38) Karı-sın-a/karısı için bir ev yap-tır-t-mış bir İngiliz mimar-ın-a.
BENEFICIARY CAUSEE
wife-3SG.POSS-DAT/wife-3SG.POSS for a house make-CAUS-CAUS-EV/PF a
British architect-NC-DAT
‘He got a British architect to build a house for his wife.’
In informal speech, a third occurrence of the causative suffix only highlights the fact that
the event was caused, rather than adding one more intermediary to the clause.