Ergative–absolutive alignment

A grammatical alignment that marks an intransitive subject like a transitive object, while distinguishing both from a transitive subject.

Ergative case: A grammatical case marking the agent-like argument of a transitive clause in an ergative–absolutive system. It marks the transitive subject that this alignment distinguishes from the absolutive arguments.
Grammatical relation: A syntactic role such as subject or object, defined by a language’s grammatical behavior. Alignment compares how languages treat arguments with different grammatical relations.
Nominative–accusative alignment: An alignment that groups an intransitive subject with a transitive subject and distinguishes them from a transitive object. It groups the two subject types together, unlike ergative–absolutive alignment.
Basque language: A language isolate spoken mainly in the western Pyrenees, with ergative case marking in its core nominal system. Basque provides a widely studied example of overt ergative and absolutive case.
Morphosyntactic alignment: The pattern by which morphology and syntax treat core arguments of clauses. The concept is one specific pattern of morphosyntactic alignment.
Absolutive case: A grammatical case marking the intransitive subject and transitive object in an ergative–absolutive system. It marks the two argument types grouped together by this alignment.
Argument (linguistics): A phrase required or licensed by a predicate, such as the subject or object of a verb. The alignment pattern concerns how a clause’s core arguments are grouped.
Active–stative alignment: An alignment that distinguishes intransitive subjects according to their semantic or grammatical behavior. It offers a different way to classify intransitive subjects rather than grouping all with transitive objects.
Dyirbal language: A Pama–Nyungan language of northeastern Australia, known for ergative case marking and split-ergative patterns. Dyirbal illustrates both ergative case and grammatical conditions that alter alignment.
Agreement (linguistics): A grammatical relationship in which one word reflects features of another, such as person, number, or gender. Agreement markers can group intransitive subjects with objects or transitive subjects.

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