Ergativabsolutiv

Ergativabsolutiv, often called ergative–absolutive alignment, is a grammatical system in which the core arguments of a sentence are marked so that the agent of a transitive clause (A) receives an ergative marking, while the subject of an intransitive clause (S) and the object of a transitive clause (O) share an absolutive form. In other words, A is distinguished from both S and O, which carry the same absolutive marking. This contrasts with nominative–accusative systems, where the subjects of both transitive and intransitive clauses are treated similarly and the object is marked differently.

In practice, ergativabsolutiv can be expressed through morphological case marking, verbal agreement, or a combination of both. A typical pattern is: transitive sentences have A marked ergatively and both S and O marked absolutively, while intransitive sentences have S marked absolutively. For example, a transitive sentence might read with John-ERG as the agent and Mary-ABS as the object, whereas an intransitive sentence would mark John-ABS as the subject of the verb.

The typology is varied. Some languages are fully ergative, marking only A and using absolutive forms for S and O, while others are split ergative, showing ergative alignment only in certain tenses, aspects, or mood (for instance, perfective versus imperfective). Split ergativity is common in language families such as Basque, several Caucasian languages (including Georgian in certain forms), and some Mayan languages, where alignment can shift with aspect or person. Ergativabsolutiv systems are a major alternative to the more widespread nominative–accusative pattern and illustrate the diversity of human language grammar.