Noun: ergative-absolutive language
- A type of language that has an ergative case or in which the direct object of a transitive verb has the same form as the subject of an intransitive verb
"An ergative-absolutive language maintains a syntactic or morphological equivalence (such as the same word order or grammatical case) for the object of a transitive verb and the single core argument of an intransitive verb, while treating the agent of a transitive verb differently.";
- ergative language
Type of: language, linguistic communication
Encyclopedia: Ergative-absolutive language