Causative alternation, anticausatives/inchoatives

English and German both have verbs participating in causative alternation.

She was drying her clothes. Her clothes were drying.
Sie trocknete ihre Kleider. Ihre Kleider trockneten.

In the second variant (called anticausative or inchoative), the object of the first or causative variant has become a subject. That's parallel to what happens in the passive. However, the removal of the causative component changes the meaning: Whereas actives and passives are synonymous (disregarding certain complications), causatives and anticausatives are not. The above sentences describe different situations.

Moreover, causative alternation is a lexical phenomenon: A few verbs allow it, but most will not. This is different in the passive, which applies to the whole class of transitive verbs.

The lexical nature of the phenomenon is underlined by the fact that certain verbs will require a reflexive pronoun in the anticausative.

Sie öffnete die Tür. Die Tür öffnete sich.
Die Sonne erwärmt die Erde. Die Erde erwärmt sich.

Note that German kochen, trocknen do not belong in this group, so the following are out:

*Die Wäsche trocknet sich.
*Das Wasser kocht sich.

The middle or mediopassive construction^{1, 2}

Finally, there seem to be cases where something that looks like an anticausative is only allowed when there is an adverbial present.

Das Buch verkauft sich gut/von selbst/wie heiße Semmeln/nicht.

One property that distinguishes this from the causative alternation is that the meaning is generic. Whereas

Die Kleider trockneten.

is referring to a specific event where there are wet clothes present,

Dieser Stoff trocknet besonders schnell.

is referring to a property of the subject that is connected to the type of events denoted by the verb, i.e. the meaning is generic.

For some discussion, see Language Log here and here.

Ordinary reflexives

Cases such as the following belong to neither of the above groups, but are simple reflexives, as the subject is a genuine agent.

Die Natur reguliert sich selbst.
Wenn man sich öffnet, ist man verletzbar.

Causative alternation, anticausatives/inchoatives

English and German both have verbs participating in causative alternation.

She was drying her clothes. Her clothes were drying.
Sie trocknete ihre Kleider. Ihre Kleider trockneten.

In the second variant (called anticausative or inchoative), the object of the first or causative variant has become a subject. That's parallel to what happens in the passive. However, the removal of the causative component changes the meaning: Whereas actives and passives are synonymous (disregarding certain complications), causatives and anticausatives are not. The above sentences describe different situations.

Moreover, causative alternation is a lexical phenomenon: A few verbs allow it, but most will not. This is different in the passive, which applies to the whole class of transitive verbs.

The lexical nature of the phenomenon is underlined by the fact that certain verbs will require a reflexive pronoun in the anticausative.

Sie öffnete die Tür. Die Tür öffnete sich.
Die Sonne erwärmt die Erde. Die Erde erwärmt sich.

Note that German kochen, trocknen do not belong in this group, so the following are out:

*Die Wäsche trocknet sich.
*Das Wasser kocht sich.

The middle or mediopassive construction^{1, 2}

Finally, there seem to be cases where something that looks like an anticausative is only allowed when there is an adverbial present.

Das Buch verkauft sich gut/von selbst/wie heiße Semmeln/nicht.

One property that distinguishes this from genuine anticausatives is that the meaning is generic. Whereas

Die Kleider trockneten.

is referring to a specific event where there are wet clothes present,

Dieser Stoff trocknet besonders schnell.

is referring to a property of the subject that is connected to the type of events denoted by the verb, i.e. the meaning is generic.

For some discussion, see Language Log here and here.

Ordinary reflexives

Cases such as the following belong to neither of the above groups, but are simple reflexives, as the subject is a genuine agent.

Die Natur reguliert sich selbst.
Wenn man sich öffnet, ist man verletzbar.

English and German both have verbs participating in causative alternation.

She was drying her clothes. Her clothes were drying.
Sie trocknete ihre Kleider. Ihre Kleider trockneten.

In the second variant (called anticausative), the object of the first or causative variant has become a subject. That's parallel to what happens in the passive. However, the removal of the causative component changes the meaning: Whereas actives and passives are synonymous (disregarding certain complications), causatives and anticausatives are not. The above sentences describe different situations.

Moreover, causative alternation is a lexical phenomenon: A few verbs allow it, but most will not. This is different in the passive, which applies to the whole class of transitive verbs.

The lexical nature of the phenomenon is underlined by the fact that certain verbs will require a reflexive pronoun in the anticausative.

Sie öffnete die Tür. Die Tür öffnete sich.
Die Sonne erwärmt die Erde. Die Erde erwärmt sich.

Note that German kochen, trocknen do not belong in this group, so the following are out:

*Die Wäsche trocknet sich.
*Das Wasser kocht sich.

Finally, there seem to be cases where something that looks like an anticausative is only allowed when there is an adverbial present.

Das Buch verkauft sich gut/von selbst/wie heiße Semmeln.

Cases such as the following are not anticausative, but simple reflexives, as the subject is a genuine agent.

Die Natur reguliert sich selbst.
Die Kleider hängten sich an die Leine und trockneten sich. (in a Harry Potter universe)

A note on terminology. Some authors speak of the mediopassive construction, which can be shortened to mediopassive but should nevertheless not confused with mediopassive voice. Another term is the middle construction. Since the literature on the subject is not easily accessible online, I am not sure whether we should subsume all of the above cases under this label or only those of the type das Buch verkauft sich gut. It's probably an open question. See Language Log 1, 2.

Causative alternation, anticausatives/inchoatives

English and German both have verbs participating in causative alternation.

She was drying her clothes. Her clothes were drying.
Sie trocknete ihre Kleider. Ihre Kleider trockneten.

In the second variant (called anticausative or inchoative), the object of the first or causative variant has become a subject. That's parallel to what happens in the passive. However, the removal of the causative component changes the meaning: Whereas actives and passives are synonymous (disregarding certain complications), causatives and anticausatives are not. The above sentences describe different situations.

Moreover, causative alternation is a lexical phenomenon: A few verbs allow it, but most will not. This is different in the passive, which applies to the whole class of transitive verbs.

The lexical nature of the phenomenon is underlined by the fact that certain verbs will require a reflexive pronoun in the anticausative.

Sie öffnete die Tür. Die Tür öffnete sich.
Die Sonne erwärmt die Erde. Die Erde erwärmt sich.

Note that German kochen, trocknen do not belong in this group, so the following are out:

*Die Wäsche trocknet sich.
*Das Wasser kocht sich.

The middle or mediopassive construction^{1, 2}

Finally, there seem to be cases where something that looks like an anticausative is only allowed when there is an adverbial present.

Das Buch verkauft sich gut/von selbst/wie heiße Semmeln/nicht.

One property that distinguishes this from the causative alternation is that the meaning is generic. Whereas

Die Kleider trockneten.

is referring to a specific event where there are wet clothes present,

Dieser Stoff trocknet besonders schnell.

is referring to a property of the subject that is connected to the type of events denoted by the verb, i.e. the meaning is generic.

For some discussion, see Language Log here and here.

Ordinary reflexives

Cases such as the following belong to neither of the above groups, but are simple reflexives, as the subject is a genuine agent.

Die Natur reguliert sich selbst.
Wenn man sich öffnet, ist man verletzbar.

English and German both have verbs participating in causative alternation.

She was drying her clothes. Her clothes were drying.
Sie trocknete ihre Kleider. Ihre Kleider trockneten.

In the second variant (called anticausative), the object of the first or causative variant has become a subject. That's parallel to what happens in the passive. However, the removal of the causative component changes the meaning: Whereas actives and passives are synonymous (disregarding certain complications), causatives and anticausatives are not. The above sentences describe different situations.

Moreover, causative alternation is a lexical phenomenon: A few verbs allow it, but most will not. This is different in the passive, which applies to the whole class of transitive verbs.

The lexical nature of the phenomenon is underlined by the fact that certain verbs will require a reflexive pronoun in the anticausative.

Sie öffnete die Tür. Die Tür öffnete sich.
Die Sonne erwärmt die Erde. Die Erde erwärmt sich.

Note that German kochen, trocknen do not belong in this group, so the following are out:

*Die Wäsche trocknet sich.
*Das Wasser kocht sich.

Finally, there seem to be cases where the anticausative is only allowed when there is an adverbial present.

Das Buch verkauft sich gut/von selbst/wie heiße Semmeln.

Cases such as the following are not anticausative, but simple reflexives, as the subject is a genuine agent.

Die Natur reguliert sich selbst.
Die Kleider hängten sich an die Leine und trockneten sich. (in a Harry Potter universe)

English and German both have verbs participating in causative alternation.

She was drying her clothes. Her clothes were drying.
Sie trocknete ihre Kleider. Ihre Kleider trockneten.

In the second variant (called anticausative), the object of the first or causative variant has become a subject. That's parallel to what happens in the passive. However, the removal of the causative component changes the meaning: Whereas actives and passives are synonymous (disregarding certain complications), causatives and anticausatives are not. The above sentences describe different situations.

Moreover, causative alternation is a lexical phenomenon: A few verbs allow it, but most will not. This is different in the passive, which applies to the whole class of transitive verbs.

The lexical nature of the phenomenon is underlined by the fact that certain verbs will require a reflexive pronoun in the anticausative.

Sie öffnete die Tür. Die Tür öffnete sich.
Die Sonne erwärmt die Erde. Die Erde erwärmt sich.

Note that German kochen, trocknen do not belong in this group, so the following are out:

*Die Wäsche trocknet sich.
*Das Wasser kocht sich.

Finally, there seem to be cases where something that looks like an anticausative is only allowed when there is an adverbial present.

Das Buch verkauft sich gut/von selbst/wie heiße Semmeln.

Cases such as the following are not anticausative, but simple reflexives, as the subject is a genuine agent.

Die Natur reguliert sich selbst.
Die Kleider hängten sich an die Leine und trockneten sich. (in a Harry Potter universe)

A note on terminology. Some authors speak of the mediopassive construction, which can be shortened to mediopassive but should nevertheless not confused with mediopassive voice. Another term is the middle construction. Since the literature on the subject is not easily accessible online, I am not sure whether we should subsume all of the above cases under this label or only those of the type das Buch verkauft sich gut. It's probably an open question. See Language Log 1, 2.