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Wondering how to use Ergative in a sentence? Below are 8 example sentences from authentic English texts. Including the meaning .

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Ergative in a sentence

Ergative meaning

With the subject of a transitive construction having grammatical cases or thematic relations different from those of an intransitive construction.

Using Ergative

  • The main meaning on this page is: With the subject of a transitive construction having grammatical cases or thematic relations different from those of an intransitive construction.
  • In the example corpus, ergative often appears in combinations such as: the ergative, and ergative, ergative case.

Context around Ergative

  • Average sentence length in these examples: 21.5 words
  • Position in the sentence: 1 start, 5 middle, 2 end
  • Sentence types: 8 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations

Often before:

example 1× subject 1× weak 1×

Often after:

case 2× absolutive 2× behaviour 1× morphology 1× languages 1× features 1×

Sentence patterns with Ergative

These short patterns come directly from the example sentences and show how the word is often embedded:

a subject ergative a direct 1× accusative and ergative behaviour for 1× example the ergative case is 1× for example ergative morphology marking 1× had weak ergative features citation 1× patterns and ergative absolutive ones 1× the ergative absolutive alignment 1× used for ergative languages which 1×

Sentence openings and endings

Common sentence openings:

in kalaallisut greenlandic 1× many languages show 1× martin ek is 1× morphosyntactic alignment main 1× the ergative absolutive 1× the label is 1×

Common sentence endings:

an accusative syntax 1× an epenthetic e 1× ergative absolutive ones 1× ergative features citation 1× not infrequent worldwide 1× possessors of nouns 1×

Words around Ergative

Just before it in the word index:

ergaster 3 ergashev 2 erg 58 erfurth 4 erfurter 2 erfurt 61

Just after it in the word index:

ergen 3 ergenekon 2 ergin 2 ergo 75 ergocalciferol 2 ergodic 9

Similar in corpus frequency:

aargau 11 abacos 11 abboud 11 abbreviate 11 abdelkader 11 abdomens 11

Corpus analysis for Ergative

  • In this selection, "ergative" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 21.5 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
  • Around the word, example, subject, weak, case, absolutive and behaviour stand out and add context to how "ergative" is used.
  • Recognizable usage signals include a subject ergative a direct and accusative and ergative behaviour for. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
  • By corpus frequency, "ergative" sits close to words such as aargau, abacos and abboud, which helps place it inside the broader word index.

Example types with ergative

The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:

Short example sentences

Typology Some early Semitic languages are speculated to have had weak ergative features. citation. (14 words)

Morphosyntactic alignment main Another common classification distinguishes nominative–accusative alignment patterns and ergative–absolutive ones. (15 words)

In Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) for example, the ergative case is used to mark subjects of transitive verbs and possessors of nouns. (20 words)

Longer example sentences

This dizkit can be split like this: * di- is used in the present tense when the verb has a subject (ergative), a direct object (absolutive), and an indirect object, and the object is him/her/it/them. (37 words)

The ergative–absolutive alignment is also rare among European languages—occurring only in some Caucasian languages in the Caucasus —but not infrequent worldwide. (23 words)

Many languages show mixed accusative and ergative behaviour (for example: ergative morphology marking the verb arguments, on top of an accusative syntax). (22 words)

Example sentences (8)

Many languages show mixed accusative and ergative behaviour (for example: ergative morphology marking the verb arguments, on top of an accusative syntax).

In Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) for example, the ergative case is used to mark subjects of transitive verbs and possessors of nouns.

Martin-ek is the agent (transitive subject), so it is marked with the ergative case ending -k (with an epenthetic -e-).

Morphosyntactic alignment main Another common classification distinguishes nominative–accusative alignment patterns and ergative–absolutive ones.

The ergative–absolutive alignment is also rare among European languages—occurring only in some Caucasian languages in the Caucasus —but not infrequent worldwide.

The label is often used for ergative languages which do not have subjects, but have an agent –verb–object order.

This dizkit can be split like this: * di- is used in the present tense when the verb has a subject (ergative), a direct object (absolutive), and an indirect object, and the object is him/her/it/them.

Typology Some early Semitic languages are speculated to have had weak ergative features. citation.

Common combinations with ergative

These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:

Frequently asked questions

How do you use "ergative" in a sentence?
An example: "Many languages show mixed accusative and ergative behaviour (for example: ergative morphology marking the verb arguments, on top of an accusative syntax)." This page contains 8 example sentences with the word "ergative" from authentic English texts.
What does "ergative" mean?
Ergative means: With the subject of a transitive construction having grammatical cases or thematic relations different from those of an intransitive construction.
How many example sentences with "ergative" are there?
Voorbeeldzinnen.info contains 8 example sentences with "ergative", drawn from a database of millions of English sentences.