The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages. In Grammar, the case of a Noun or Pronoun indicates its Grammatical function in a greater Phrase or Clause; such as the According to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle, every sentence can be divided in two main constituents, one being the subject of the sentence and the In Syntax, a transitive verb is a Verb that requires both a subject and one or more objects Some examples of sentences with transitive verbs An ergative-absolutive Language (or simply ergative language is a language that treats the argument (" subject " of an Intransitive

In such languages, the ergative case is typically marked (most salient), while the absolutive case is unmarked. Markedness is a linguistic concept that developed out of the Prague School (also known as the Prague linguistic circle) In Ergative-absolutive languages the absolutive ( abbreviated ABS) is the Grammatical case used to mark both the subject of an New 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 (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, Chechen, and other Caucasian languages, Mayan languages, Mixe-Zoque languages, Wagiman and other Australian Aboriginal languages as well as Basque and Burushaski. Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between The Chechen language (Нохчийн мотт / Noxçiyn mott Medieval Chechen نوًچین موت) is spoken by more than 1 The Mixe-Zoque languages constitute a Language family whose living members are spoken in and around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Wagiman (also spelled Wageman, Wakiman, Wogeman) is a near-extinct Indigenous Australian language spoken by less than 10 people in and around Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain Burushaski (بروشسکی - burū́šaskī is a Language isolate not known to be related to any other language of the world

See also

• Antipassive voice
• Morphosyntactic alignment
• Ergative-absolutive language

References

• Woolford, Ellen. Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure. The antipassive voice is a Verb voice found mostly in ergative languages Like the Passive voice, the antipassive decreases the verb's valency In Linguistics, morphosyntactic alignment is the system used to distinguish between the arguments of Transitive verbs and those of Intransitive An ergative-absolutive Language (or simply ergative language is a language that treats the argument (" subject " of an Intransitive August 2004.
• Bomfoco, Marco. "What is Ergativity?. " EzineArticles 22 July 2006. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. 27 August 2006. Events 479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic