CauseWV2: Causal relationships are marked by an independent word (conjunction) in the reason clause.

+WV1: Causal relationships are marked by an independent word (referent) in the main clause.

(1a) kati nem men-t ma iskolá-ba, mert beteg vol-t.

Kati neg go-pst.3sg today school-ill because sick cop-pst.3sg

‘Kati didn’t go to school because she was sick.’

(2a) kati azért nem men-t ma iskolá-ba, mert beteg vol-t.

Kati hence neg go-pst.3sg today school-ill because sick cop-pst.3sg

‘Kati didn’t go to school because she was sick.’

(2b) kati amiatt nem men-t ma iskolá-ba, hogy beteg vol-t.

Kati because_of_that neg go-pst.3sg today school-ill that sick cop-pst.3sg

‘Kati didn’t go to school because she was sick.’

(3) meg-beteged-vén kati nem men-t ma iskolá-ba.

pref-become_sick-conv Kati neg go-pst.3sg today school-ill

‘As Kati was sick, she didn’t go to school today.’

In Hungarian, causal relationships are coded with subordination. The subordinate clause entails a conjunction (mert ‘because’, mivel ‘because’, minthogy ‘since’, hogy ‘that’ etc.) and a connective element can optionally appear in the main clause (2a)–(2b). The subordinate clause usually follows the main clause (cf. Kenesei et al. 1998: 51, Haader 2000a: 511‒512). Sometimes, converbal constructions can also express causal relations (3) (cf. Lengyel 2000e: 238‒240).