er·ga·tive (ûr g -t v)adj. 1. Of or relating to a language, such as Georgian, in which the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb is expressed by one grammatical case, and the subject of a transitive verb is expressed by another. 2. Of or relating to the grammatical case of the subject of a transitive verb in such a language. n. 1. The ergative case. 2. An ergative inflection. 3. A nominal having an ergative form. [From Greek ergat  s, worker, from ergon, work; see werg- in Indo-European roots.]er  ga·tivi·ty n. |
ergative [ˈɜːgətɪv] Linguistics
adj
1. (Linguistics) denoting a type of verb that takes the same noun as either direct object or as subject, with equivalent meaning. Thus, ``fuse'' is an ergative verb: ``He fused the lights'' and ``The lights fused'' have equivalent meaning
2. (Linguistics) denoting a case of nouns in certain languages, for example, Eskimo or Basque, marking a noun used interchangeably as either the direct object of a transitive verb or the subject of an intransitive verb
3. (Linguistics) denoting a language that has ergative verbs or ergative nouns
n
1. (Linguistics) an ergative verb
2. (Linguistics) an ergative noun or case of nouns
[from Greek ergatēs a workman + -ive]
Translations
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