In such languages, the ergative case is typically
marked (most
salient), while the
absolutive case is unmarked. Recent work in
case theory has vigorously supported the idea that the ergative case identifies the agent (the intentful performer of an action) of a verb. In
Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) for example, the ergative case is used to mark subjects of transitive verbs and possessors of nouns. This
syncretism with the
genitive is commonly referred to as the
relative case.
Nez Perce has a three-way nominal case system with both ergative (
-nim) and
accusative (
-ne) plus an absolute (unmarked) case for intransitive subjects:
hipáayna qíiwn ‘the old man arrived’;
hipáayna wewúkiye ‘the elk arrived’;
wewúkiyene péexne qíiwnim ‘the old man saw an elk’.
Sahaptin has an ergative noun case (with suffix
-nɨm) that is limited to transitive constructions only when the direct object is 1st or 2nd person:
iwapáatayaaš łmámanɨm ‘the old woman helped me’;
paanáy iwapáataya łmáma ‘the old woman helped him/her’ (direct);
páwapaataya łmámayin ‘the old woman helped him/her’ (inverse). In languages with an optional ergative, the choice between marking the ergative case or not depends on semantic or pragmatics aspects such as marking focus on the argument. Other languages that use the ergative case are
Georgian,
Chechen, and other
Caucasian languages,
Mayan languages,
Mixe–Zoque languages,
Wagiman and other
Australian Aboriginal languages as well as
Basque,
Burushaski and
Tibetan. Among all
Indo-European languages, only
Yaghnobi,
Kurdish language varieties (including
Kurmanji,
Zazaki and
Sorani) and
Pashto from the
Iranian languages and
Hindi/
Urdu, along with some other
Indo-Aryan languages, are ergative. The ergative case is also a feature of some
constructed languages such as
Na'vi,
Ithkuil and
Black Speech. ==See also==