Periphrastic causative constructions in Patani Malay

This paper discusses periphrastic causative constructions in Patani Malay, which is a Malay dialect spoken in Thailand’s Deep South. The result shows that Patani Malay has three types of periphrastic causative constructions, namely waʔ ‘do’ construction, wi ‘give’ construction and waʔwi construction. Compared to Indonesian, Malaysian Colloquial Malay and Eastern Malay varieties, the constructions in Patani Malay are quite different from those in its sister languages, but they are more similar to the Thai tham ‘do’, haj ‘give’ and thamhaj constructions with respect to the choice of causative verbs, syntax and semantics. Given the history of the Patani Malay language and its speakers, the similarity between periphrastic causative constructions in Patani Malay and Thai is likely to be a result of longterm asymmetrical language contact, as Thai has been and is still the more prominent language in the area.