Interpropositional relations involving a causal relation

There are causal relations of different kinds and at different levels. They may be classified as follows:

Causal relation asserted:
- causal: S_↴ because ^↴S: q CAUSE p: ^↴S is, semantically, the reference point which is the cause, thus, logically, the subordinate clause
- consecutive: S_↴ so that ^↴S: p CAUSE q: ^↴S is the subordinate clause
- causative: A CAUSE q, where A is higher on the empathy hierarchy.
Implication presupposed:
- Positive: purpose: P(A) in order that ^↴S: ((want(A,q) & (S_↴ → ^↴S)) CAUSE (P(A))
- Negative: concessive: S_↴ although ^↴S: (^↴S → ¬p) & S_↴ &: ^↴S

Causal subordinate clause

In a causal relation of the form ‘S_↴ causes ^↴S’, S_↴ is the cause or reason for ^↴S, which is the effect or consequence. Either S_↴ or ^↴S may be coded in a subordinate clause.

cause/reason in subordinate clause: causal clause
- cause: ;
- reason: ;
effect/consequence in subordinate clause: consecutive clause: .

.	Linda drowned because she was heavier than water.
.	Linda drowned herself because she saw no future for linguistics.
.	Linda was heavier than water so that she drowned.

In the English examples and , no structural difference is discernible between cause and reason. See, however, the section on mental attitudes toward the content of the subordinate proposition.

Further differentiation in causal clauses may result from presuppositions associated with the cause proposition. In German, for instance, the two causal conjunctions weil “because” and da “since” carry different presuppositions.

.	a.	Menschen gehen unter, weil sie schwerer als Wasser sind.
		People founder because they are heavier than water.
	b.	Da Menschen schwerer als Wasser sind, gehen sie unter.
		As people are heavier than water, they founder.

In .b, there is a presupposition that the causal proposition is known to the hearer, whereas there is no such presupposition in #a, which may pretend to tell the hearer something new.

The causal construction bears paradigmatic relations to other interpropositional constructions:

It differs from a conditional construction ‘if S_↴, ^↴S’ in that S_↴ is asserted rather than assumed.
It is the basis of the purpose construction.
It is presupposed by the factive concessive construction.

Like a conditional clause, a causal clause may motivate a speech act, as in .

.	Since you are asking, I am not married.

See the section on pragmatic levels for further treatment.