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Activestativelanguage
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Anactivestativelanguage(activelanguageforshort),alsocommonlycalledasplitintransitivelanguage,isa
languageinwhichthesoleargument("subject")ofanintransitiveclause(oftensymbolizedasS)issometimes
markedinthesamewayasanagentofatransitiveverb(thatis,likeasubjectsuchas"I"or"she"inEnglish)but
othertimesinthesamewayasadirectobject(suchas"me"or"her"inEnglish).

Thecaseoragreementoftheintransitiveargument(S)dependsonsemanticorlexicalcriteriaparticulartoeach
language.Thecriteriatendtobebasedonthedegreeofvolition,orcontrolovertheverbalactionexercisedbythe
participant.

Forexample,ifonetrippedandfell,anactivestativelanguagemightrequirethemtosaytheequivalentof"fell
me."Tosay"Ifell"wouldmeanthatthepersonhaddoneitonpurpose,suchastakingafallinboxing.Another
possibilityisempathyforexample,ifsomeone'sdogwererunoverbyacar,onemightsaytheequivalentof"died
her."Tosay"shedied"wouldimplythatthepersonwasnotaffectedemotionally.

IfthecoreargumentsofatransitiveclausearetermedA(agentofatransitiveverb)andO(object,orpatientofa
transitiveverb),activestativelanguagescanbedescribedaslanguagesthatalignintransitiveSasS=O("me
fell")orS=A("Ifell"),dependingonthecriteriadescribedabove.

ActivestativelanguagescontrastwithaccusativelanguagessuchasEnglishthatgenerallyalignSasS=A,andto
ergativelanguagesthatgenerallyalignSasS=O.

Contents
1 Types
2 Argumentmarking
3 Terminology
4 Examples
4.1 SouthAmericanlanguages
4.2 CentralAmerica/Mesoamericanlanguages
4.3 NorthAmericanlanguages
4.4 SouthandSoutheastAsia
4.5 Caucasus
4.6 Others
4.7 Reconstructedlanguages
5 Notes
6 Seealso
7 References
8 Externallinks

Types

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Formostsuchlanguages,thecaseoftheintransitiveargumentislexicallyfixedforeachverb,regardlessofthe
actualdegreeofvolitionofthesubjectbutoftencorrespondingtothemosttypicalsituation.Forexample,the
argumentofswimmayalwaystreatedlikethetransitivesubject(agentlike),andtheargumentofsleeplikethe
transitivedirectobject(patientlike).InDakota,argumentsofactiveverbssuchastorunaremarkedliketransitive
agents,asinaccusativelanguages,whileargumentsofinactiveverbssuchastostandaremarkedliketransitive
objects,asinergativelanguages.Inalanguagelikethis,ifthesubjectofaverblikerunorswallowisdefinedas
agentive,itwillbealwaysmarkedso,eveniftheactionofswallowingisinvoluntary.Thissubtypeissometimes
knownassplitS.

Inotherlanguages,themarkingoftheintransitiveargumentisdecidedbythespeakerbasedonsemantic
considerations.Thatis,foranygivenintransitiveverbthespeakermaychoosewhethertomarktheargumentas
agentiveorpatientive.Insomeoftheselanguages,agentivemarkingencodesadegreeofvolitionorcontrolover
theaction,withthepatientiveusedasthedefaultcaseinothers,patientivemarkingencodesalackofvolitionor
control,sufferingfromorbeingotherwiseaffectedbytheaction,orsympathyonthepartofthespeaker,withthe
agentiveusedasthedefaultcase.ThosesubtypesaresometimesknownasfluidS.

Argumentmarking
Ifthelanguagehasmorphologicalcase,theargumentsofatransitiveverbaremarkedbyusingtheagentivecase
forthesubjectandthepatientivecasefortheobject.Theargumentofanintransitiveverbmaybemarkedaseither.

Languageslackingcaseinflectionsmayindicatecasebydifferentwordorders,usingadpositions,etc.For
example,thepatientiveargumentmightprecedetheverb,whiletheagentiveargumentmightfollow.

Crosslinguistically,theagentiveargumenttendstobemarked,andthepatientiveargumenttendstobeunmarked.
Thatis,ifonecaseisindicatedbyzeroinflection,itisoftenthepatientive.

Terminology
Activelanguagesarearelativelynewfieldofstudy.Inothertimes,activemorphosyntacticalignmentwasnot
recognizedassuchandwastreatedmostlyasaninterestingdeviationfromthestandardalternatives(nominative
accusativeandergativeabsolutive).Besides,activelanguagesarefewandoftenshowcomplicationsandspecial
cases("pure"activealignmentisanideal).

Thus,theterminologyusedtodescribethemisratherflexible.Activelanguagesaretermedalsoactivestativeor
evennominativeabsolutive.Thetermsagentivecaseandpatientivecaseusedabovearedescriptivebutnot
standard.Theyaresometimesreplacedbythetermsactiveandinactive.

Thenamesofthesubtypes,splitSandfluidS,comefromthedesignationofthesingleargumentofintransitive
verbsasS.TheywerefirstusedbyRMWDixonin1979.

Examples
()=extinctlanguage

SouthAmericanlanguages

InBrazil,Bolivia,FrenchGuiana,Paraguay,Peru:TupGuaranlanguagesTupinamb(fluidS,),Tupi
(),northernArgentina,easternBoliviaandsouthwesternBrazilby7millionpeople),Siriono(eastern
Bolivia),CamaiuraorKamayura(SplitS,Brazil)

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Guaran,alanguagespokenmainlyinParaguay,hasbeenanalyzedasaclosetoidealactivelanguageofthe
fluidStype.InMesoamericatheOtoMangueanlanguagesChochoandAmuzgoareactivelanguagesofthe
splitStype,withsomeverbsshowingfluidSalignment.
InBrazil(UpperRioNegro):ArawaklanguageBaniwadoIana(fluidS)
InSouthAmericaandtheCaribbean:manyArawakanlanguages(alsoArahuacan,Arawakanas,
Arahuacano,Maipurean,Maipuran,Maipureano,Maiprean)areactivelanguagesofSplitStype,suchas
Waur(SplitS,spokeninBrazil)

CentralAmerica/Mesoamericanlanguages
InMexico:PopolocanbranchoftheOtoMangueanlanguagesChocho(alsosaidChocholtec,Chocholteco
Chochotec,Chochon,orNgigua,SplitS),Amuzgo,Chol(Mayan,SplitS)
InPanama&Colombia:ChibchanlanguageIkan(splitS)

NorthAmericanlanguages

IntheUS:SouthandSouthEastGulflanguages:MuskogeeorCreek,Hichiti,Koasati,Choctaw(fluidS
onverbsandaccusativemarkingonnouns),suchasasubgroupofMuskogeanlanguagessuchasChickasaw
(InSouthCentralOklahoma),Isolate:Euchee(Yuchi)(innortheasternOklahoma,historicallyinTennessee)
CentralregionoftheUS:Siouanlanguages,Omaha,Biloxi(),Ofo(),Osage,Winnebago,Crow(fluidS),
Ioway(splitS),Hidatsa,Dakota(splitS),Ponca,Tutelo,Assiniboine,Mandan(splitS)amongaSioux
languageLakhota(splitS),
InGreatPlains(eastoftheRockyMountainsintheUnitedStatesandCanada):CaddoanlanguagesCaddo,
Wichita(ergative,accusativeandSsplitmixedtype),Kitsai(alsoknownasKichai)(),Arikara(SplitS
alsoknownasRee),Pawnee
InEasternNorthAmerica:IroquoianlanguagesMohawk(Ontario,QuebecandnorthernNewYork),
Seneca(SplitSWesternNewYorkandtheSixNationsReserve,Ontario),Huron(calledalsoasWyandot,
spokeninnortheasternOklahoma,Quebec),Oneida(spokeninSixNationsReserve,OntariocentralNew
YorkandaroundGreenBay,Wisconsin),Onondaga(SplitStype,spokeninSixNationsReserve,Ontario,
andwesternNewYork),Susquehannock(),Cayuga(spokenonSixNationsoftheGrandRiverFirst
Nation,Ontario,byaround100people),Tuscarora(southernOntario,TuscaroraReservationinnorthwestern
NewYork,andeasternNorthCarolina),Nottoway(Virginia)(),Cherokee(Oklahoma,NorthCarolina)
InLouisiana:Tunica()(orTonica)alanguageisolate
InCalifornia:PomonalanguagesEasternPomo(fluidS,NorthernCalifornia),CentralPomoandNorthern
Pomo,SoutheasternPomo,Kashaya
WesternNorthAmerica(InCanada,Alaska,SouthernRockyMountains,PacificshoreoftheUS):Nadene
languagesHaida,Tlingit,Eyak(since2008),Athapaskan,Slave
ChiracahuaApacheandmanyotherlanguagesalsoshowactivealignment.

SouthandSoutheastAsia
Austronesianlanguages:Acehnese(spokeninAceh,IndonesiaandPerak,Malaysia)isoffluidStype,
Kuanua(spokenbytheTolaiontheislandofNewBritain)isofasplitStypemanyactivelanguagesof
CentralbranchofthisfamilyarespokeninEasternIndonesia
Papuanlanguages:Yawa(SplitS)
TibetoBurmanlanguages:spokenTibetan(fluidS)

Caucasus

Georgian(spokenintheCaucasiannationofGeorgia):generallyconsideredasplitergativelanguage,but
ACHarrishasclaimedthatitshowsactivealignmentinsomeverbparadigms(namely,thattheergative
markerappearstoapplytoactiveintransitiveverbsalsostativeexperiencerstakeadifferentcasemarking
andagreementpattern).However,eventhatiscomplicatedbytheexistenceofapparentlyinactive
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intransitiveverbstakingsuchmarking,suchastheverbmeaning'toboil'.OtherKartvelianlanguagessuch
Laz,Svan,andOldGeorgianshowsimilarsystems,whilethepositionofMingrelianismorecontroversial.
NortheastCaucasianlanguages:TsovaTush:accordingtoHolisky(1987),thereare31intransitiveverbsfor
whichtheargumentisalwaysmarkedaspatientiveandrefertouncontrollablestates("behungry",
"tremble",etc.),and78intransitiveverbswithanagentiveargument("walk","talk","think").Theyforma
splitSsubsetoftheverbs.TherestoftheverbsformafluidSsystemforinstance,asingleverbrootcanbe
interpretedas"slip"whenitisusedwithapatientiveargumentandas"slide"withanagentiveargument.
Tabasaran.

Others
Ket,aYeniseianlanguage(SplitS)

Reconstructedlanguages

ThereconstructedPreProtoIndoEuropeanlanguage,nottobeconfusedwiththeProtoIndoEuropeanlanguage,
itsdirectdescendant,showsmanyfeaturesknowntocorrelatewithactivealignmentliketheanimatevs.inanimate
distinction,relatedtothedistinctionbetweenactiveandinactiveorstativeverbarguments.Eveninitsdescendant
languages,therearetracesofamorphologicalsplitbetweenvolitionalandnonvolitionalverbs,suchasapatternin
verbsofperceptionandcognitionwheretheargumenttakesanobliquecase(calledquirkysubject),arelicof
whichcanbeseeninMiddleEnglishmethinksorinthedistinctionbetweenseevs.lookorhearvs.listen.Other
possiblerelicsfromastructure,indescendantlanguagesofIndoEuropean,includeconceptualizationof
possessionandextensiveuseofparticles.

Notes
Seealso
Morphosyntacticalignment

References
AndrassonDaniel:Activelanguages,DepartmentofLinguistics,StockholmUniversity
BauerBrigitteL.M.2000ArchaicSyntaxinIndoEuropean:TheSpreadofTransitivityinLatinandFrench.
Berlin/NewYork:deGruyter
BlakeBarryJ.1994:SurveyofCaseMarking:Activesystem,in:BlakeB.,Case,CambridgeUniversity
Press,125126
BenvenisteEmile1971:OriginesdelaFormationsdesNomsenIndoeuropen.Paris:Adrien
Maissonneuve171172fromLehmann1995:17
Dixon,R.M.W.(1979)."Ergativity".Language.55:59138.
Dixon,R.M.W.(1994).Ergativity.CambridgeUniversityPress.ISBN0521448980.
Donohue,MarkWichmann,Sren,eds.(2005),TheTypologyofSemanticAlignment,Oxford:Oxford
UniversityPress,ISBN9780199238385
GamkrelidzeThomasV./IvanovVjaeslavV.1995[1984]:ProtoIndoEuropeanasaLanguageofthe
ActiveType,inGamkrelidzeThomasV./IvanovVjaeslavV.:IndoEuropeanandtheIndoEuropeans,
Berlin/NewYork:MoutondeGruyter,p.233276
GamkrelidzeThomasV./IvanovVjaeslavV.1995[1984]:ThegrammaticalsyntagmaticsofProtoIndo
Europeanintypologicalperspective,inGamkrelidzeThomasV./IvanovVjaeslavV.:IndoEuropeanand
theIndoEuropeans,Berlin/NewYork:MoutondeGruyter,p.233276
GanteChristiane2007:ObjektkasusimIndogermanischen,MagisterarbeitanderUniversitaetHamburg,
GrinVerlag2008
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HaasMaryR.1946:AgrammaticalSketchofTunica,pp.337366inLinguisticStructuresofNative
America,edHarryHoijer.NewYork:Viking,S.337366,fromLehmann1995
HarrisA.1981:Georgiansyntax:astudyinrelationalgrammar.CambridgeUniversityPress,fromBlakeB.
1994
Harris,A.1985:Diachronicsyntax.Orlando:AcademicPress,fromBlakeB.1994
HoijerHarry1946:CharicahuaApache,LinguisticStructuresofNativeAmerica,edHarryHoijer.New
York:Viking,S.5584
Holisky,DeeAnn.1987.ThecaseoftheintransitivesubjectinTsovaTush(Batsbi).Lingua71.10332.
IvanovaNatalia2008:ImpersonalConstructionsasaResidueofanActiveLanguage,Magisterarbeit,
UniversityofHamburg(notpublishedbutthereisacopyoftheworkinMoscowRussianStateLibraryand
twocopiesinHamburgerStaatsundUniversittsbibliothek,TeilbibliothekAllgemeineSprachwissenschaft,
TeilbibliothekAnglistik/Amerikanistik)
Klimov,GeorgijA.1973:Oerkobejteoriiergativnosti(Outlineofageneraltheoryofergativity).
Moscow:Nauka
Klimov,GeorgijA.1974:OntheCharacterofLanguagesofActiveTypology,inLinguistics131:1125
Klimov,GeorgijA.1977:TipologijaJazykovAktivnogoStroja.Moscow:Nauka
Klimov,GeorgijA.1983:OncontentiveTypology[Principycontensivnojtipologii]Moscow:Nauka
Langemann,Katrin2004MorphologieundSyntaxderNominativundAkkusativkasusim
Indogermanischen,MagisterarbeitanderUniversitaetHamburg
LehmannWinfredP.1995:ResiduesofPreIndoEuropeanActiveStructureandtheirImplicationsforthe
RelationshipsamongtheDialects,Innsbruck
Lehmann,WinfredP.1993:TheoreticalBasesofIndoEuropeanLinguistics.London:Routledge.
Lehmann,WinfredP.2002:PreIndoEuropean(JournalofIndoEuropeanStudiesMonograph41).
Mithun1991:Active/agentivecasemarkinganditsmotivation,inLanguage67:510546,p.513,515516,
fromBlake1994:126
Seki,Lucy1990."Kamaiur(TupGuaran)asanactivestativelanguage."InDorisL.Payne(ed.),
Amazonianlinguistics:StudiesinlowlandSouthAmericanlanguages,36791.Austin:UniversityofTexas
Press.

Externallinks
Activelanguages(https://web.archive.org/web/20080302131251/http://www.ling.su.se/gu/kursmaterial/311_
4/active.pdf),byDanielAndrasson,DepartmentofLinguistics,StockholmUniversity

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