Romance causatives and ergativity

Generative analyses account for causative constructions either by means of VP movement, taking place in the sentential complement of causative verbs—or in terms of monoclausality, in which case the causative verb is a functional v in a recursive v structure. In the analysis that I propose, make is a lexical verb taking a reduced vP complement. This reduced complement of make displays an ‘ergative’ alignment in the sense that the object of transitive verbs and the subject of intransitiveverbs are treated alike, receiving accusative case from the matrix v*—while the subject of transitives is given an oblique treatment. Long passivization is predicted on the basis of the phase organization of causative constructions, as is the fact that clitic climbing to the matrix causative verb is both possible and necessary. Finally, I do not subscribe to the idea that FP presents a further reduced complement with respect to FP. Rather, I impute the differences between FI and FP simply to the differences between to PPs and by PPs.