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In general linguistics, a labile verb (or ergative verb) is a verb that undergoes causative alternation; that is, it can be used both transitively and intransitively, with the requirement that the direct object of its transitive use corresponds to the subject of its intransitive use, [1] as in "I ring the bell" and "The bell rings."
The word subject, as it is typically defined in grammars of nominative–accusative languages, has a different application when referring to ergative–absolutive languages, or when discussing morphosyntactic alignment in general. Ergative languages tend to be either verb-final or verb-initial; there are few, if any, ergative SVO languages. [4]
The final ke 4 𒆤 is the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e (ergative case). [ 1 ] In grammar , the ergative case ( abbreviated erg ) is the grammatical case that identifies a nominal phrase [ 2 ] as the agent of a transitive verb in ergative–absolutive languages .
An example of split ergativity conditioned by the grammatical aspect is found in Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu); in the perfective aspect of transitive verbs (in active voice), the subject takes ergative case and the direct object takes an unmarked absolutive case identical to the nominative case, which is sometimes called direct case.
The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings: Ergative case , the grammatical case of the subject of a transitive verb in an ergative-absolutive language Ergative–absolutive language , a language in which the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb
The English word case used in this sense comes from the Latin casus, which is derived from the verb cadere, "to fall", from the Proto-Indo-European root ḱhâ‚‚d-. [8] The Latin word is a calque of the Greek πτῶσις, ptôsis, lit. "falling, fall". [9] The sense is that all other cases are considered to have "fallen" away from the nominative.
English has a number of ergative verbs: verbs which can be used either intransitively or transitively, where in the intransitive use it is the subject that is receiving the action, and in the transitive use the direct object is receiving the action while the subject is causing it.
For example, in the sentence Emily laughed, the subject Emily performs the action of laughing. Burzio's generalization establishes a parallel between unaccusative verbs (referred to as ergative verbs by Burzio [1]) and passives, neither of which assign a subject theta role or accusative case.
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