Ergatiiviseen

Ergatiiviseen is a term used in Finnish to refer to ergativity, a type of grammatical alignment found in some languages. In ergative-aligned languages, the subject of an intransitive verb behaves the same as the object of a transitive verb (the absolutive), while the agent of a transitive verb (the ergative) is marked differently. This contrasts with nominative-accusative systems, where the subject of both intransitive and transitive verbs is treated similarly, and the object of transitive verbs is marked differently.

In practical terms, ergativity often appears through case marking, verbal agreement, or a combination of both. The absolutive form marks S (the intransitive subject) and P (the object of a transitive verb) similarly, whereas A (the agent of a transitive verb) bears an ergative marker. Many languages also exhibit split ergativity, where ergative alignment applies only in certain tenses, aspects, moods, or with certain pronouns or nouns.

Languages commonly cited as ergative-absolutive include Basque, Georgian, several Caucasian languages, Inuit languages, and many Mayan languages. However, many languages show mixed or split systems, and some use ergativity only in specific grammatical domains. The study of ergativity intersects with broader questions in typology, syntax, and historical linguistics, illustrating the diversity of ways languages encode who does what to whom.

Overall, ergativity represents one of the major typological patterns for organizing grammatical roles, highlighting that languages can mark agents and patients in varied and systematic ways beyond the nominative-accusative model.