Re: A mixed ergative question...

En réponse à Danny Wier <dawier@...>:

>
> Clauses with active verb: subject = nominative, object = accusative
> Clauses with passive verb: subject = ergative, object = nominative
> Clauses with reflexive verb: subject = ergative
> Clauses with copula as verb: subject = nominative
> Clauses with causative verb: subject (causor) = nominative, subject
> (causee)
> = ergative, object = accusative
> (The verb changes form when it switches from active to passive, or to
> causative or reflexive, but the noun case also does likewise. Tech has
> free
> word order tending toward a basic VSO typology.)
>
> The last type I'm unsure of; should I reverse the cases for the causor
> and
> causee? And what's a better term than "causor" and "causee"?
>
I think so. Your "ergative" seems definitely more active than your "nominative"
(since it's used with reflexive verbs while "nominative" is used with the
copula) and the causor is typically more active than the causee (in that it's
strong enough to cause the causee to do something). I also would reverse the
cases in the passive voice. After all, a passive voice typically promotes the
patient to subject position, and I guess the "nominative" here refers to the
patient :)) . You can keep it this way, but then your passive voice looks a bit
strange :)) .

Christophe.

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