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Split ergativity

 

 
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Split ergativity
 
 
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Split ergativity is shown by languages that have a partly ergative
Ergative-absolutive language

An ergative?absolutive language is a language that treats the Verb argument of an intransitive verb like the Object of a transitive verb, but distinctly from the agent of a transitive verb....
 behaviour, but employ another syntax
Syntax

In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing Sentence s in natural languages. In addition to referring to the discipline, the term syntax is also used to refer directly to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure of any individual language, as in "the Irish syntax"....
 or morphology
Morphology (linguistics)

Morphology is the identification, analysis and description of structure of words . While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most languages, words can be related to other words by rules....
 — usually accusative
Nominative-accusative language

A nominative?accusative language, or simply an accusative language, is a language that marks the object of transitive verbs distinguishing them from the subject of both transitive and intransitive verbs....
 — in some contexts. In fact, most of the so-called ergative languages are not pure but split-ergative.

The split is usually conditioned by one of these:

  1. The presence of a discourse participant (a first or second person) in the proposition.






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    Split ergativity is shown by languages that have a partly ergative
    Ergative-absolutive language

    An ergative?absolutive language is a language that treats the Verb argument of an intransitive verb like the Object of a transitive verb, but distinctly from the agent of a transitive verb....
     behaviour, but employ another syntax
    Syntax

    In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing Sentence s in natural languages. In addition to referring to the discipline, the term syntax is also used to refer directly to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure of any individual language, as in "the Irish syntax"....
     or morphology
    Morphology (linguistics)

    Morphology is the identification, analysis and description of structure of words . While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most languages, words can be related to other words by rules....
     — usually accusative
    Nominative-accusative language

    A nominative?accusative language, or simply an accusative language, is a language that marks the object of transitive verbs distinguishing them from the subject of both transitive and intransitive verbs....
     — in some contexts. In fact, most of the so-called ergative languages are not pure but split-ergative.

    The split is usually conditioned by one of these:

    1. The presence of a discourse participant (a first or second person) in the proposition. The Australian language Dyirbal
      Dyirbal language

      Dyirbal is an Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northeast Queensland by about 5 speakers of the Dyirbal tribe. It is a member of the small Dyirbalic branch of the Pama-Nyungan languages....
       behaves ergatively in all morphosyntactic contexts, except when one of these is involved. When a first or second person pronoun appears, however, it is marked according to a nominative-accusative
      Nominative-accusative language

      A nominative?accusative language, or simply an accusative language, is a language that marks the object of transitive verbs distinguishing them from the subject of both transitive and intransitive verbs....
       pattern (with the least marked case when it is the agent or intransitive, and with the most marked case when it is the patient). This can be explained in terms of the high animacy of a first or second person speaker in the animacy hierarchy.
    2. The use of certain tense
      Tense

      Tense may refer to:*Grammatical tense, a temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs...
      s and/or aspect
      Grammatical aspect

      In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb defines the temporal flow in the described event or state. In English, for example, the past-tense sentences "I swam" and "I was swimming" differ in aspect ....
      s       in the verb. The Indo-Iranian
      Indo-Iranian languages

      The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European languages family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan languages , Iranian languages and Nuristani languages....
       family, for example, shows a split between the perfect and the imperfect aspect. A verb in the perfect aspect causes its arguments to be marked using an ergative pattern, while the imperfect aspect triggers accusative marking. (Related languages and others always tend to associate past tense and/or perfect aspect with ergativity.)
    3. The type of marking involved. Some languages (including various Austronesian languages
      Austronesian languages

      The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia....
       of New Guinea
      New Guinea

      New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
      , such as Sinaugoro) exhibit an ergative-absolutive pattern with respect to case
      Grammatical case

      In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun indicates its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause; such as the role of subject , of direct object, or of possession ....
       marking, but a nominative-accusative pattern with respect to agreement
      Agreement (linguistics)

      In languages, agreement is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase. Agreement happens when one word changes in form depending on to which other words it is being related....
      .
    4. The agentivity of the intransitive subject. In languages like Dakota, arguments of active verbs such as to run are marked like transitive agents, as in accusative languages, while arguments of inactive verbs such as to stand are marked like transitive objects, as in ergative languages. Languages with this kind of marking are known as split-S languages, and are formally a subtype of active languages.


    Examples


    An example of split ergativity conditioned by tense and aspect is found in the Hindi
    Hindi

    Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
    -Urdu
    Urdu

    Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
     language, which has an ergative case on subjects in the perfective aspect for transitive verbs in the active voice, while in other aspects (habitual, progressive) subjects appear in the nominative case. Example sentences for Hindi
    Hindi

    Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
    -Urdu
    Urdu

    Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
     are:

    ????? ????? ??????? ??
    kitab xaridta hai
    boy.Msg.NOMINATIVE book.NOMINATIVE.Fsg buy.HABITUAL.Msg be.PRESENT ¹
    "The boy buys a book."


    ?????-?? ????? ??????
    -ne kitab xaridi
    boy.Msg-ERGATIVE book.NOMINATIVE.Fsg buy.PERFECTIVE.Fsg ¹
    "The boy bought a book."


    (¹) The morph-by-morph analysis has been simplified to show the features relevant to the topic of split ergativity.