ergatívny

Ergativity is a grammatical phenomenon found in certain languages, particularly in the Caucasus region, where the subject of a transitive verb is marked with a different case than the subject of an intransitive verb. This is in contrast to nominative-accusative languages, where the subject of both transitive and intransitive verbs is marked with the same case. The term "ergative" comes from the Latin word "ergō," meaning "I work," reflecting the idea that the subject of a transitive verb is the "worker" or "agent" of the action.

In ergative languages, the subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case, while the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are marked with the absolutive case. This case marking system is often referred to as an ergative-absolutive alignment. For example, in the Georgian sentence "მამამ მამამისმა შვილმა" (mama-m mamamis-ma shvil-ma), which translates to "The father hit the son," the subject "father" is marked with the ergative case, while the object "son" is marked with the absolutive case.

Ergative languages are relatively rare, with only a few dozen languages known to exhibit this grammatical feature. Examples of ergative languages include Georgian, Basque, and some languages of the Caucasus region. The ergative case marking system has been the subject of much linguistic research, as it provides insights into the nature of grammatical categories and the evolution of language.