ergative
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ergative
- /ˈɜːɡətɪv/ UK
- /ˈɝɡətɪv/ US
- [-ɾɪv] US
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek ἐργᾰ́της (ergắtēs, “labourer, worker”) + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘belong or relating to; of the nature of; serving to; tending to’ forming adjectives).
adjective
-
With the subject of a transitive construction having grammatical cases or thematic relations different from those of an intransitive construction.
The case systems of ergative languages are counter-intuitive to speakers of many Indo-European languages.
Similar: elliptical · Opposite: unergative
noun ergatives
- Ellipsis of ergative case (“a grammatical case used to indicate the agent of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages”). Samoan, for example, differs from the usual pattern displayed by split ergative languages in that the appearance of the ergative is grounded in sociolinguistic factors as well as syntactic ones. The more formal register of Samoan requires the ergative on all postverbal transitive subjects. The less
- An ergative verb or other expression. Unlike those with subjectivized ergatives, such locative clauses naturally do not allow for imperatives (*Contain the apples).
Translations
Talk about this word "ergative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ergative. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ergative. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ergative "ergative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ergative.Cite this
@misc{ergative_2026,
title = {ergative},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ergative},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
