Lexical Causatives in Modern English: On Classification of “Kill–Verbs”

Abstract

The article aims to suggest a new classification of modern English causative verbs, namely those meaning “to kill”. The author suggests classifying these verbs according to three features – with reference to some instrument/tool (pointing to the use of a tool in the definition), with reference to some cause (pointing to the cause of the murder) and with reference to the manner (pointing to the way the murder was performed).