Re: Ergative (was: Re: Are some languages easier to learn?)

Hi,

On Sun, 18 Oct 1998, Matt Pearson wrote:

> In Hindi - and, I believe, many/most/all other Indo-Aryan languages -
> a split-ergative system is found, such that ergative-absolutive (or
> ergative-accusative) marking, together with an ergative agreement
> pattern, shows up in perfective clauses.
It is indeed true of Hindi, and applies to past clauses (I don't know
the other IA languages well enough). For example:

  Raam ne  usko   dekhaa
  Raam ERG it-ACC saw

I suspect it might have developed from (classical) Sanskrit sentences in
which during a certain period it became common to write verbless sentences
with the agent in the instrmental. Eg.,

  Raamena     etat dRSTam (asti)
  Raama-INSTR this seen   (is)
  "by Raama this is seen"

("R" is vocalic; "S" = /S/; "T" is retroflex)

Over time, the -ena masculine instr. ending took on an ergative
appearance, (thus: Raamena --> Raam ne) while the patient was reanalyzed
as an accusative.

Btw, there are some ergative-like sentences also for perceptional/mental
verbs/emotional verbs, wherein the ergative function is supplied by the
formal dative case:

  mujhe  yah  maloom hai
  me-DAT this known  is
  "I know this"

Similarly, in Tamil, too:

  enakku itu  teriyum
  me-DAT this known
  "I know this"

Regards,
skrintha