Re: Nominative to ergative shift

FFlores wrote:
> Could you explain that? I'm not getting what you mean.
> Is it a "nominative word order" (e.g. VSO) that can evolve
> into an ergative system e.g. V-Abs-Erg?
What I mean is in the syntax, not word order.  For instance, in
nominative syntax, the verb agrees with the nominative, and sometimes
also accusative.  In and ergative syntax, the agreement is with
absolutive and sometimes ergative.  Of course, there can also be no
agreement.  Another way in which syntax can be nominative or ergative is
in switch-referencing, for instance: "John hit the man and walked into
the room".  Nominative syntax means that the nominative of the preceding
clause (that is, John) is assumed to be the nominative of the second
clause (i.e., John walked into the room), while in ergative syntax (this
degree of ergativity is rare, however), the absolutive of the first
clause (the man) is the same as the absolutive of the second (i.e., the
man walked into the room).

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