Re: Ergativity

Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
> > Construct Categories
> >         Name                    Groupings
> >         Accusative              {A,  S} {P}
> >         Clairvoyant             {A,  P,  S}
> >         Ergative                {A} {S,  P}
> >         Monster Raving Loony    {A,  P} {S}
>
> Are there any MRL natlangs?
As far as I know, there are none that are *completely* MRL.  However,
there are languages, such as Iranian, where in certain constructions
(specifically, past tense), that form is used.  The origin of this is a
simple Hindi-like split-ergativity, wherein past tense was ergative
(agent = genetive, subject/patient = nominative) while in present tense
it was accusative (agent/subject = nominative, patient = accusative),
due to the origin of the past tense form in a passive construction.
Later, due to sound changes, the genetive and accusative merged into a
single oblique case, thus, for past tense, you had agent = oblique,
subject/patient = nominative; while for present tense it was
agent/subject = nominative, patient = oblique.  The crucial change was
when the patient of a past tense verb came to be marked as oblique, due
to analogy with the present tense, leaving the system agent/patient =
oblique, subject = nominative.

Some related languages have gone a further step and made agents of past
tense verbs nominative, by analogy with present tense, creating a normal
accusative system.

To clarify:

Past     Original Intermediate Modern (Related)
Subject  NOM      NOM          NOM    NOM
Agent    GEN  	  OBL  	       OBL    NOM
Patient  NOM      NOM          OBL    OBL
         (ergative)            (MRL)  (accusative)

Present
Subject  NOM      NOM          NOM    NOM
Agent    NOM      NOM          NOM    NOM
Patient  ACC      OBL          OBL    OBL

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