cws
Greetings Guest
home > library > journal > view_article
« Back to Articles ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article » Journal
Ergativity
0▲ 0 ▼ 0
Usage of Ergativity
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 20 Jul 2018, 14:09.

[comments]
[Public] ? ?
8. Pronouns ? ?
?FYI...
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.

Cazenian has a split ergativity. When talking about past events or prophecies, one should use ergative and absolutive case. Other than those, nominative should be used.
Take utel ig lingchemz “I eat the apple” as an example.

Talking about the past

Ergative is used in the following tenses:
a. Simple Past
itm maz la lingchem. eat-PASPast
action occurred before moment of speech
.1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
apple-INANInanimate (gender/class)
inanimate, sessile
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent
I ate the apple.
b. Present perfect
uteln maz la lingchem. eat-PRPFPresent perfective (tense/aspect)
have done
.1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
apple-INANInanimate (gender/class)
inanimate, sessile
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent
I just ate the apple.
c. Pluperfect
itm maz la lingchem, sin ag oyjagtem.. eat-PLUPPluperfect (tense)
anterior action
.1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent
apple-INANInanimate (gender/class)
inanimate, sessile
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument
, when 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument
leav-PASPast
action occurred before moment of speech
.1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
at. When I left, I have already eaten the apple.
Ergativity is also used in prophecies or some event that will be happen inevitably. a. Future perfect
utet min lingchem, eb ig oyjage sin. eat-FUTPERFuture perfect (tense)
"will have been"
.1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent
apple-INANInanimate (gender/class)
inanimate, sessile
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument
when 1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument
leave-1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.FUTFuture (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech
at. When I leave, I will have certainly eaten the apple. (no matter I like it or not)
b. Compound future
le min lingchem utan. be-PREPresent.1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
1First person (person)
speaker, signer, etc; I
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ERGErgative (case)
TRANS subject; agent
apple-INANInanimate (gender/class)
inanimate, sessile
.SGSingular (number)
one countable entity
.ABSAbsolutive (case)
TRANS object, INTR argument
eat-PTCPParticiple
adjectival form of a verb
I will certainly eat the apple (in the far future).
✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
Comments
privacy | FAQs | rules | statistics | graphs | donate | api (indev)
Viewing CWS in: English | Time now is 29-Mar-24 07:46 | Δt: 654.006ms