Ergative case

The ergative case is a grammatical case used in ergative-absolutive (EA) languages to mark the subject of a transitive verb. In these languages, the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are usually marked with the absolutive case.

The case marking system described above is, together with the nominative-accusative (NA) system, one of the great minimal case marking systems for the agent and the patient. Both systems are minimal in that both require only two marks for three possible theme roles:

1. The "intransitive subject" of an intransitive preaching.
2. The "agent" of a transient preaching.
3. The "patient" of a transient preaching.

The EA system uses the same mark for 1 and 3 and a different mark for 2, while the NA system uses the same mark for 1 and 2 and a different mark for 3.

However, the situation in natural languages is somewhat complicated, because many languages exhibit split ergativity; in fact, they use the ergative-absolutive (EA) marking system in combination with a nominative-absolutive (NA) marking system. The use of the EA or NA system is not arbitrary, but fixed. Thus, many Australian languages use one system in the pronominal system and the other with full nouns.

Examples

Among the ergative languages, there are:

• the euskera
• Mayan languages
• Berber languages^{[chuckles]required]}
• the Kurmanji (a Kurdish language)
• the Georgian
• the kalaallisut (in Greenland)
• the Hurrita
• The Sumerian

In the case of Basque, this characterization is marked by the ending -k, and variants can be distinguished, depending on the number:

• Mugabea (indefinite): terminations -kfor words finished in vowel, andekFor the ends in consonant. This case (actually, any case of indefinite Basque declines) is generally used to decline words used in certain questions in which it is not completely defined who or what does the action, to decline words that are affected by numerals (with exceptions) and to decline their own names.
  • Edonork lagun dezake orri hauetan idazten: any (edonor + - Okay.) can help (lagun dezake) writing (idazten) in these (haue) pages (orri).
  • Ramonek erosi du: Ramon (Ramon + -ek) bought it (erosi du).
  • Bi emakumek etxea erosi dute: two women (bi emakume + -k) have bought (erosi dute) the house (etxe + - Yeah.).
• Mugatu singularra (defined singular): the termination is always -ak. This case is used when the core of the subject is singular.
  • Gizonak etxea erosi du: the man (gizon + -ak) has bought (erosi du) the house (etxe + -a).
• Mugatu plurala (defined plural): the termination is always -ek. This case is used when the nucleus of the subject is plural and in some cases where the nucleus, known in the given context, is affected by a numeral.
  • Emakumeek etxea erosi dute: women (emakume + -ek) have bought (erosi dute) the house (etxe + - Yeah.).
  • Bi emakumeek etxea erosi dute: the two women (bi emakume + -ek) have bought (erosi dute) the house (etxe + - Yeah.).
• Plural hurbila (close): the termination is always -Okay.and it is used well to indicate the proximity of the issuer — or of the broadcasters — regarding what is being referred to, because it is included in that group, or when the group is near, but not including the issuer — or the broadcasters —
  • GizonOkay. etxea erosi dugu: (We) Men bought the house.
  • GizonOkay. etxea erosi dute: These (near or pointed) men have bought the house.