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Concept
Split ergativity
Summary
In linguistic typology, split ergativity is a feature of certain languages where some constructions use ergative syntax and morphology, but other constructions show another pattern, usually nominative–accusative. The conditions in which ergative constructions are used varies among different languages.
Ergative–absolutive alignment
Nominative–accusative languages (including European languages, with the notable exception of Basque) treat both the actor in a clause with a transitive verb and the experiencer in a clause with an intransitive verb in the same way grammatically. If the language uses case markers, they take the same case. If it uses word order, it is parallel.
For example, consider these two English sentences:
Jane was chasing Max.
Jane was sweating.
The grammatical role of "Jane" is identical. In both cases, "Jane" is the subject.
In ergative–absolutive languages (such as Basque and Georgian, or the Eskimo–Aleut and Mayan languages), there is a different pattern. The patient (or target) of a transitive verb and the experiencer of an intransitive verb are treated the same grammatically. If the two sentences above were expressed in an ergative language, "Max" in the former and "Jane" in the latter would be parallel grammatically. Also, a different form (the ergative) would be used for "Jane" in the first sentence.
For example, in the following Inuktitut sentences, the subject 'the woman' is in ergative case (arnaup) when occurring with a transitive verb, while the object 'the apple' (aapu) is in absolutive case. In the intransitive sentence, the subject 'the woman' arnaq is in absolutive case.
Arnaup nirijanga aapu. 'The woman is eating the apple.'
Arnaq pisuktuq. 'The woman is walking.'
In split ergative languages, some constructions pattern with nominative–accusative, and others with ergative–absolutive.
The split is usually conditioned by one of the following:
The presence of a discourse participant (a first or second person) in the proposition.
Official source
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