I was reading "The Language Instinct" by Steven Pinker, and he says in the book that certain verbs (like play and cook) don't undergo a certain causative rule. You can read the portion here at Google Books.
The butter melted → Sally melted the butter
This is one of the example he gives. Why can't we use "cook" and "play" this way? Here are some examples I made up:
John played → John played football.
John cooked → John cooked a meal.
*The meat cooked → John cooked the meat. ("The meat cooked" example doesn't feel right)
Was he referring to sentences just like my last example? If yes what's the difference between the transitive and intransitive meanings in my first two examples and the last example?
I can see that the verb in my last example doesn't have a similar role like the melted in "the butter melted" example. Is that the difference Pinker is referring to here?
