Ergative case
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The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.
In such languages, the ergative case is typically marked (most salient), while the absolutive case is unmarked. New work in case theory has vigorously supported the idea that the ergative case identifies the agent (intentful doer of action) of a verb (Woolford 2004).
In Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) for example the ergative case is used to mark subjects of transitive verbs and possessors of nouns.
Other languages that use the Ergative case are Georgian and other Caucasian languages, Mayan languages, Mixe-Zoque languages, Pama-Nyungan languages as well as Basque and Burushaski.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Woolford, Ellen. Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure. August 2004.
- Bomfoco, Marco. "What is Ergativity?." EzineArticles 22 July 2006. 27 August 2006. [1]
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