I’m not a bonafide linguist, but I’ve studied a dozen languages—some formally, some informally, some only on a surface level, some deep enough that I’ve needed to dip my toes into proper linguistics to go further. While I’m sure the iceberg goes deeper than I’ll ever know, the one topic I still haven’t gotten even a basic grasp on is ergativity, which is wild because *apparently* it’s a main feature of many languages. I would say I get the gist of it, but that’s not even true. At best, I know which parts of speech it involves, and I won’t even say that out loud because I may well be wrong.
So, my basic question is: What is ergativity?
From there:
– What are some examples of it in different languages?
– And what is its linguistic counterpart called, as in, if a language does not display ergativity, what *does* it have?
You don’t have to explain it like I’m five, more like I’m that guy at work who’s approaching retirement age that saw you scroll TikTok once and now wants you to explain what “griddying” is. I’m 27, but I think that method might be best.
Thanks!
In: 13
Ergativity is a language feature where the subject of a transitive verb (like “hit”) is treated differently from the subject of an intransitive verb (like “run”). It’s often seen in languages like Basque, Georgian, and some indigenous languages.
In contrast, non-ergative languages treat both subjects the same way. This is called nominative-accusative alignment, found in English, Spanish, and many others.
So, in ergative languages, who’s doing the hitting (transitive) and who’s running (intransitive) can be treated differently, while in non-ergative languages, they’re treated the same.
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