ergativity
noun [ U ] language specialized uk/ɜː.ɡəˈtɪv.ə.ti/ us/ˈɜː˞.ɡəˈtɪv.ə.t̬i/
通格性;作格现象
the fact of grammatical patterns being ergative
The term ergativity is used to describe a grammatical pattern in which the subject of an intransitive clause is treated in the same way as the object of a transitive clause. 通格性这一术语用来描述一种语法现象,即不及物分句的主语可以用作及物分句的宾语。
Ergativity occurs in only a small number of the language families of North America. 作格现象只出现在北美的少数语系中。
- More examples
- I am interested in the types of ergativity found in languages of the world.
- Many important papers were published on ergativity in a wide geographical spread of languages.
- He invited me to submit a paper on ergativity in Dyirbal.