This chapter considers the extent to which the faire-par causative (FP) is
available in Italian, French, Catalan, and varieties of Spanish and Portuguese.
While French and Italian (like some Spanish varieties) permit FP with an
optional by-phrase, Catalan permits FP only where the by-phrase is supressed.
Although some Spanish and Portuguese varieties display something
superficially resembling the Catalan FP, closer consideration reveals the
construction in question to have quite distinct properties. Taking Portuguese
as a case study, we trace the diachronic development of FP, proposing that the
obligatory suppression of the by-phrase combined with the possibility of
ECM/inflected causative complements permitted reanalysis, leading to the
loss of FP in some Portuguese (and Spanish) varieties.