Ergative–absolutive

Ergative–absolutive languages, or ergative languages, are languages sharing a certain distinctive pattern relating to the subjects (technically, arguments) of verbs. Examples are Basque, Georgian, Mayan and several Indo-European languages, such as Kurdish dialects or Gorani.

In an ergative language, the single argument ("subject") of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb, and differently from the agent of a transitive verb. That is in contrast to nominative–accusative languages, such as English and most other Indo-European languages, where the single argument of an intransitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She walks.") behaves grammatically like the agent of a transitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She finds it.") but differently from the object of a transitive verb ("her" in the sentence "She likes her.").

In ergative–absolutive languages with grammatical case, the case used for the single argument of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb is the absolutive, and the case used for the agent of a transitive verb is the ergative. In nominative–accusative languages, the case for the single argument of an intransitive verb and the agent of a transitive verb is the nominative while the case for the direct object of a transitive verb is the accusative.

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