Dativeaccusative

Dativeaccusative refers to a grammatical case marking system found in some languages where the dative and accusative cases share a common form or are indistinguishable. This phenomenon is not a single case itself but rather a pattern of case syncretism. In languages exhibiting dativeaccusative alignment, the subject of an intransitive verb, the object of a transitive verb, and sometimes the indirect object of a transitive verb might all be marked identically.

This type of alignment contrasts with nominative-accusative languages, where the subject of an intransitive verb and the subject of a transitive verb are marked the same (nominative), and the object of a transitive verb is marked differently (accusative). It also differs from ergative-absolutive languages, where the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are marked the same (absolutive), and the subject of a transitive verb is marked differently (ergative).

The specific realization of dativeaccusative alignment can vary. In some instances, a single case ending might serve for both dative and accusative functions. In others, grammatical context or word order might be crucial for distinguishing between the roles that would otherwise be marked identically. Understanding dativeaccusative systems requires examining the specific case inventories and grammatical rules of the language in question. It is a feature that highlights the diverse ways languages encode grammatical relations.