Re: a few questions

> From: Tristan Alexander McLeay
>
> Just a few questions...
>
> 3. What does ergative mean?
This one occurs so often on this list that it really should be in a FAQ
somewhere.  Check the archives for lengthy discussions of this concept.
Also take a look at my page on Ergativity
(http://www.graywizard.net/Conlinguistics/ergativity.htm) for a discussion
of how it works in my conlang, amman iar.  Although most discussions of
ergativity are confined to what is called "Morphological Ergativity", i.e.
the discriminatory application of case roles to the arguments of a predicate
within a simple clause, on my page you will also find a discussion of
"Syntactic Ergativity", an often overlooked aspect of ergative languages
which deals with ergatively motivated syntactic constraints on clause
combination.

If you really want to delve into ergativity, then the absolute best source
is Dixon's book "Ergativity", a must read for any conlanger contemplating an
ergative conlang.

David

David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
www.graywizard.net

Wisdom begins in wonder.