Ergative case

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Cuneiform inscription Lugal Kiengi Kiuri 𒈗𒆠𒂗𒄀𒆠𒌵, "King of Sumer and Akkad", on a seal of Sumerian king Shulgi (r. c. 2094–2047 BCE). The final ke4 𒆤 is the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e (ergative case).[1]

In

ergative–absolutive languages.[3]

Characteristics

In such languages, the ergative case is typically

salient), while the absolutive case is unmarked. Recent work in case theory has vigorously supported the idea that the ergative case identifies the agent (the intentful performer of an action) of a verb.[4]

In

genitive
is commonly referred to as the relative case.

accusative
(-ne) plus an absolute (unmarked) case for intransitive subjects: hipáayna qíiwn ‘the old man arrived’; hipáayna wewúkiye ‘the elk arrived’; wewúkiyene péexne qíiwnim ‘the old man saw an elk’.

Sahaptin has an ergative noun case (with suffix -nɨm) that is limited to transitive constructions only when the direct object is 1st or 2nd person: iwapáatayaaš łmámanɨm ‘the old woman helped me’; paanáy iwapáataya łmáma ‘the old woman helped him/her’ (direct); páwapaataya łmámayin ‘the old woman helped him/her’ (inverse).

In languages with an optional ergative, the choice between marking the ergative case or not depends on semantic or pragmatics aspects such as marking focus on the argument.[5]

Other languages that use the ergative case are

Zazaki and Sorani)[6] and Pashto from Iranian languages and Hindi/Urdu, along with some other Indo-Aryan languages
are ergative.

The ergative case is also a feature of some

Na'vi, Ithkuil and Black Speech
.

See also

Look up ergative case or ergative in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Citations

  1. ISBN 978-90-474-0340-1
    .
  2. ^ Loos, Eugene. "Glossary of linguistic terms". LinguaLinks Library 5.0 Plus. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  3. ^ Haspelmath, Martin. 2022. Ergative, absolutive, accusative and nominative as comparative concepts. In Iomdin, Leonid & Milićević, Jasmina & Polguère, Alain (eds.), Lifetime linguistic inspirations: To Igor Mel’čuk, 201–213. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. (doi:10.5281/zenodo.7625026) (https://zenodo.org/record/7625026)
  4. ^ Woolford, Ellen. "Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure". Feb 2005.
  5. Wikidata Q122816430
    .
  6. ^ Theodora Bynon. 1979. The Ergative Construction in Kurdish. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Vol. 42, No. 2:211-224.
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