Re: Patient marking in active languages

Nokta Kanto wrote at 2006-02-17 23:14:23 (-0500)
 > I came to a puzzling question when considering case markings in active
 > languages.  From what I've read about active languages, they assign the
 > 'agent' case to the argument that performs the action, and the 'patient'
 > case to the argument that gets the effects of the action.
 >
 > What does an active language do for verbs that (arguably) take two
 > patients: own, be inside, overlook, ride, wear?  Do they assign the
 > "agent" role to one of the arguments, or use some other noun case,
 > or not express such relationships as a verb clause?
 >

As I understand the term "active language", it's a matter of how the
arguments of _intransitive_ verbs are treated.  As far as I can see,
the treatment of transitive verbs that don't map well onto the
agent/patient pattern is going to be much the same as in accusative or
ergative languages.