View source for Morphosyntactic alignment

{{Short description|Grammatical relationship between arguments}}
{{linguistic typology topics}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2014}}
In [[linguistics]], '''morphosyntactic alignment''' is the grammatical relationship between [[Argument (linguistics)|argument]]s—specifically, between the two arguments (in English, subject and object) of [[transitive verb]]s like ''the dog chased the cat'', and the single argument of [[intransitive verb]]s like ''the cat ran away''. English has a ''[[subject (grammar)|subject]],'' which merges the more active argument of transitive verbs with the argument of intransitive verbs, leaving the ''[[object (grammar)|object]]'' in transitive verbs distinct; other languages may have different strategies, or, rarely, make no distinction at all. Distinctions may be made [[morphology (linguistics)|morphologically]] (through [[grammatical case|case]] and [[agreement (linguistics)|agreement]]), [[syntax|syntactically]] (through [[word order]]), or both.

==Terminology==
===Dixon (1994)===
The following notations will be used to discuss the various types of alignment:<ref name="Dixon1994" /><ref name="Comrie1978" />
*'''S''' (from ''sole''), the [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] of an [[intransitive verb]];
*'''A''' (from ''agent''), the subject of a [[transitive verb]];
*'''O''' (from ''object''), the [[Object (grammar)|object]] of a transitive verb. Some authors use the label '''P''' (from ''patient'') for O.

Note that while the labels S, A, O/P originally stood for subject, [[Agent (grammar)|agent]], object, and [[Patient (grammar)|patient]], respectively, the concepts of S, A, and O/P are distinct both from the [[grammatical relation]]s and [[thematic relation]]s. In other words, an A or S need not be an agent or subject, and an O need not be a patient. 

Note, however, that these semantic macro-roles in Dixon's model differ from those in Klimov's model (1983), which uses five macro-roles (with both S and O divided into two categories).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Suda |first=Junichi |date=2025 |title=The Late-Klimov Model for Typological Classification of Active, Ergative, and Nominative Languages ― Re-evaluation of the Five Macroroles Model, et al. |url=https://www.academia.edu/128211811/The_Late_Klimov_Model_for_Typological_Classification_of_Active_Ergative_and_Nominative_Languages_Re_evaluation_of_the_Five_Macroroles_Model_et_al |journal=Typological Studies |issue=7 |pages=83-107}}</ref>

In a nominative–accusative system, S and A are grouped together, contrasting O. In an ergative–absolutive system, S and O are one group and contrast with A. The [[English language]] represents a typical nominative–accusative system (''accusative'' for short). The name derived from the [[nominative case|nominative]] and [[accusative case|accusative]] cases. [[Basque language|Basque]] is an ergative–absolutive system (or simply ''ergative''). The name stemmed from the [[Ergative case|ergative]] and [[Absolutive case|absolutive]] cases. S is said to '''align with''' either A (as in English) or O (as in Basque) when they take the same form.

====Bickel & Nichols (2009)====
Listed below are argument roles used by Bickel and Nichols for the description of alignment types.<ref>[[Balthasar Bickel|Bickel, B]]. & [[Johanna Nichols|Nichols, J]]. (2009). Case marking and alignment. In A. Malchukov & A. Spencer (Eds.), ''The Oxford Handbook of Case'' (pp. 304-321). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.</ref> Their taxonomy is based on [[Thematic relation|semantic roles]] and [[Valency (linguistics)|valency]] (the number of arguments controlled by a [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]]).
*'''S''', the sole argument of a one-place predicate
*'''A''', the more agent-like arguments of a two-place (A1) or three-place (A2) predicate
*'''O''', the less agent-like argument of a two-place predicate
*'''G''', the more goal-like argument of a three-place predicate
*'''T''', the non-goal-like and non-agent-like argument of a three-place predicate

===Locus of marking===
The term '''locus''' refers to a location where the morphosyntactic [[Marker (linguistics)|marker]] reflecting the syntactic relations is situated. The markers may be located on the [[Head-marking language|head]] of a phrase, a [[Dependent-marking language|dependent]], and [[Double-marking language|both]] or [[Zero-marking language|none]] of them.<ref>[[Johanna Nichols|Nichols, J]]. & [[Balthasar Bickel|Bickel, B]]. (2013). Locus of Marking in the Clause. In M. S. Dryer & M. Haspelmath (Eds.), ''The World Atlas of Language Structures Online''. Retrieved from http://wals.info/chapter/23</ref><ref>Nichols, J. (1986). Head-marking and dependent-marking grammar. ''Language, 62''(1), 56-119.</ref>{{explain|date=March 2022}}

==Types of alignment==
# '''[[Nominative–accusative language|Nominative–accusative]]''' (or '''accusative''') alignment treats the S argument of an intransitive verb like the A argument of transitive verbs, with the O argument distinct (<span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span> = <span style="color:#008000">'''A'''</span>; <span style="color:#800000">'''O'''</span> separate).<ref name="Comrie2013">[[Bernard Comrie|Comrie, B]]. (2013). Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases. In M. S. Dryer & M. Haspelmath (Eds.), ''The World Atlas of Language Structures Online''. Retrieved from http://wals.info/chapter/98</ref> In a language with morphological case marking, an S and an A may both be unmarked or marked with the [[nominative case]] while the O is marked with an [[accusative case]] (or sometimes an [[oblique case]] used for [[dative case|dative]] or [[instrumental case|instrumental]] case roles also), as occurs with nominative ''-us'' and accusative ''-um'' in Latin:  ''Juli<span style="color:#008000">'''us'''</span> venit'' "Julius came"; ''Juli<span style="color:#008000">'''us'''</span> Brut<span style="color:#800000">'''um'''</span> vidit'' "Julius saw Brutus". Languages with nominative–accusative alignment can detransitivize transitive verbs by demoting the A argument and promoting the O to be an S (thus taking nominative case marking); it is called the [[passive voice]]. Most of the world's languages have accusative alignment. <br>An uncommon subtype is called '''[[marked nominative language|marked nominative]]'''. In such languages, the subject of a verb is marked for nominative case, but the object is unmarked, as are citation forms and objects of prepositions. Such alignments are clearly documented only in [[northeastern Africa]], particularly in the [[Cushitic languages]], and the southwestern United States and adjacent parts of Mexico, in the [[Yuman languages]].
# '''[[Ergative–absolutive language|Ergative–absolutive]]''' (or '''ergative''') alignment treats an intransitive argument like a transitive O argument (<span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span> = <span style="color:#008000">'''O'''</span>; <span style="color:#800000">'''A'''</span> separate).<ref name="Comrie2013" /> An A may be marked with an [[ergative case]] (or sometimes an [[oblique case]] used also for the [[genitive case|genitive]] or [[instrumental case|instrumental]] case roles) while the S argument of an intransitive verb and the O argument of a transitive verb are left unmarked or sometimes marked with an [[absolutive case]]. Ergative–absolutive languages can detransitivize transitive verbs by demoting the O and promoting the A to an S, thus taking the absolutive case, called the [[antipassive voice]]. About a sixth of the world's languages have ergative alignment. The best known are probably [[Inuit Language|the Inuit languages]] and [[Basque Language|Basque]].
# '''[[Active–stative language|Active–stative]] alignment''' treats the arguments of intransitive verbs like the A argument of transitives (like English) in some cases and like transitive O arguments (like Inuit) in other cases (S<sub>a</sub>=A; S<sub>o</sub>=O). For example, in Georgian, ''Mariam'''ma''' imğera'' "Mary (-ma) sang", ''Mariam'' shares the same narrative case ending as in the transitive clause ''Mariam'''ma''' c'eril'''i''' dac'era'' "Mary (-ma) wrote the letter (-i)", while in ''Mariam'''i''' iq'o Tbilisši revolutsiamde'' "Mary (-i) was in Tbilisi up to the revolution", ''Mariam'' shares the same case ending (-i) as the object of the transitive clause. Thus, the arguments of intransitive verbs are not uniform in its behaviour. <br>The reasons for treating intransitive arguments like A or like O usually have a semantic basis. The particular criteria vary from language to language and may be either fixed for each verb or chosen by the speaker according to the degree of volition, control, or suffering of the participant or to the degree of sympathy that the speaker has for the participant.
# '''[[Symmetrical voice]]''', also called '''Austronesian alignment''' and '''Philippine-type alignment''', is found in the [[Austronesian languages]] of the Philippines, parts of Borneo and Sulawesi, Taiwan, and Madagascar. These languages have both accusative-type and ergative-type alignments in transitive verbs. They are traditionally (and misleadingly) called "active" and "passive" voice because the speaker can choose to use either one rather like active and passive voice in English. However, because they are not true [[grammatical voice|voice]], terms such as "agent trigger" or "actor focus" are increasingly used for the accusative type (S=A) and "patient trigger" or "undergoer focus" for the ergative type (S=O). (The terms with "trigger" may be preferred over those with "focus" because these are not [[focus (linguistics)|focus]] systems either; morphological alignment has a long history of confused terminology). Patient-trigger alignment is the default in most of these languages. For either alignment, two core cases are used (unlike passive and antipassive voice, which have only one), but the same morphology is used for the "nominative" of the agent-trigger alignment and the "absolutive" of the patient-trigger alignment so there is a total of just three core cases: common S/A/O (usually called ''nominative,'' or less ambiguously ''[[direct case|direct]]''), ''ergative'' A, and ''accusative'' O. Many of these languages have ''four'' alignments, with additional "voices" that mark a [[locative case|locative]] or [[benefactive case|benefactive]] with the direct case.
#'''Direct alignment''': very few languages make no distinction among agent, patient, and intransitive arguments, leaving the hearer to rely entirely on context to figure them out. This S/A/O case is called ''direct'', as it sometimes is in [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] alignment.
#'''[[Tripartite language|Tripartite]] alignment''' uses a separate case or syntax for each argument,<ref name="Comrie2013" /> which are conventionally called the [[accusative case]], the [[intransitive case]], and the [[ergative case]]. The [[Nez Perce language]] is a notable example.
#'''[[Transitive alignment]]''': certain [[Iranian language]]s, such as [[Rushani language|Rushani]], distinguish only transitivity (in the past tense), using a ''transitive case'' for both A and O, and an ''intransitive case'' for S. That is sometimes called a ''double-oblique'' system, as the transitive case is equivalent to the accusative in the non-past tense.

The direct, tripartite, and transitive alignment types are all quite rare. The alignment types other than Austronesian alignment can be shown graphically like this:

[[Image:Morphosyntactic_Alignments.png|950px]]

In addition, in some languages,  both [[Nominative–accusative alignment|nominative–accusative]] and ergative–absolutive systems may be used, split between different grammatical contexts, called [[split ergativity]]. The split may sometimes be linked to [[animacy]], as in many [[Australian Aboriginal languages]], or to [[grammatical aspect|aspect]], as in [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] and [[Mayan languages]]. A few Australian languages, such as [[Diyari language|Diyari]], are split among accusative, ergative, and tripartite alignment, depending on animacy.

A popular idea, introduced in Anderson (1976),<ref>Anderson, Stephen. (1976). On the notion of subject in ergative languages. In C. Li. (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp. 1–24). New York: Academic Press.</ref> is that some constructions universally favor accusative alignment while others are more flexible. In general, behavioral constructions ([[argument control|control]], [[Raising (syntax)|raising]], [[relative clause|relativization]]) are claimed to favor nominative–accusative alignment while coding constructions (especially case constructions) do not show any alignment preferences. This idea underlies early notions of ‘deep’ vs. ‘surface’ (or ‘syntactic’ vs. ‘morphological’) ergativity (e.g. Comrie 1978;<ref name="Comrie1978">[[Bernard Comrie|Comrie, Bernard]]. (1978). Ergativity. In W. P. Lehmann (Ed.), Syntactic typology: Studies in the phenomenology of language (pp. 329–394). Austin: University of Texas Press.</ref> Dixon 1994<ref name="Dixon1994">[[Robert M. W. Dixon|Dixon, R. M. W.]] (1994). Ergativity. Cambridge University Press.</ref>): many languages have surface ergativity only (ergative alignments only in their coding constructions, like case or agreement) but not in their behavioral constructions or at least not in all of them. Languages with [[syntactic ergativity|deep ergativity]] (with ergative alignment in behavioral constructions) appear to be less common.

==Comparison between ergative–absolutive and nominative–accusative==
The arguments can be symbolized as follows:
* '''O''' = most patient-like argument of a transitive clause (also symbolized as '''P''')
* '''S''' = sole argument of an intransitive clause
* '''A''' = most agent-like argument of a transitive clause

The S/A/O terminology avoids the use of terms like "subject" and "object", which are not stable concepts from language to language. Moreover, it avoids the terms "agent" and "patient", which are semantic roles that do not correspond consistently to particular arguments. For instance, the A might be an experiencer or a source, semantically, not just an [[agent (grammar)|agent]].

The relationship between ergative and accusative systems can be schematically represented as the following:

{| class="wikitable"
!
! Ergative–absolutive
! Nominative–accusative
|-
| '''O'''
| {{color|#008000|same}}
| {{color|#800000|different}}
|-
| '''S'''
| {{color|#008000|same}}
| {{color|#008000|same}}
|-
| '''A'''
| {{color|#800000|different}}
| {{color|#008000|same}}
|}

The following [[Basque language|Basque]] examples demonstrate ergative–absolutive case marking system:<ref>Campbell, G. L. & King, G. (2011). ''The Routledge Concise Compendium of the World's Languages'' (2nd ed, p. 62). New York, NY: Routledge.</ref>

:{| cellpadding="6"
|+ '''Ergative Language'''
| {{interlinear|lang=eu
 |top=''Gizona etorri da.''
 |gizona{{color|#008000|'''-∅'''}} {etorri da}
 |the.man{{color|#008000|'''-ABS'''}} {has arrived}
 |{{color|#008000|'''S'''}} VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
 |'The man has arrived.'
}}
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
| {{interlinear|lang=eu
 |top=''Gizonak mutila ikusi du.''
 |gizona{{color|#800000|'''-k'''}} mutila{{color|#008000|'''-∅'''}} {ikusi du}
 |the.man{{color|#800000|'''-ERG'''}} boy{{color|#008000|'''-ABS'''}} saw
 |{{color|#800000|'''A'''}} {{color|#008000|'''O'''}} VERB<sub>trans</sub>
 |'The man saw the boy.'
}}
|}

In Basque, ''gizona'' is "the man" and ''mutila'' is "the boy". In a sentence like ''mutila gizonak ikusi du'', you know who is seeing whom because ''-k'' is added to the one doing the seeing. So the sentence means "the man saw the boy". If you want to say "the boy saw the man", add the ''-k'' instead to the word meaning "the boy": ''mutilak gizona ikusi du''.

With a verb like ''etorri'', "come", there's no need to distinguish "who is doing the coming", so no ''-k'' is added. "The boy came" is ''mutila etorri da''.

[[Japanese language|Japanese]] – by contrast – marks nouns by following them with different particles which indicate their function in the sentence:

:{| cellpadding="6"
|+ '''Accusative Language'''
| {{interlinear|lang=eu
 |top=''Kodomo ga tsuita.''
 |{kodomo {{color|#008000|'''ga'''}}} tsuita
 |{child {{color|#008000|'''NOM'''}}} arrived
 |{{color|#008000|'''S'''}} VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
 |'The child arrived.'
}}
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
| {{interlinear|lang=eu
 |top=''Otoko ga kodomo o mita.''
 |{otoko {{color|#008000|'''ga'''}}} {kodomo {{color|#800000|'''o'''}}} mita
 |{man {{color|#008000|'''NOM'''}}} {child {{color|#800000|'''ACC'''}}} saw
 |{{color|#008000|'''A'''}} {{color|#800000|'''O'''}} VERB<sub>trans</sub>
 |'The man saw the child.'
}}
|}

In this language, in the sentence "the man saw the child", the one doing the seeing ("man") may be marked with ''ga'', which works like Basque ''-k'' (and the one who is being seen may be marked with ''o''). However, in sentences like "the child arrived" ''ga'' can still be used even though the situation involves only a "doer" and not a "done-to". This is unlike Basque, where ''-k'' is completely forbidden in such sentences.

== See also ==
*[[Active–stative alignment]]
*[[Agreement (linguistics)]]
*[[Differential argument marking]]
*[[Differential object marking]]
*[[Labile verb]]
*[[Milewski's typology]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*[[Alexandra Aikhenvald|Aikhenvald, A. Y.]], [[Robert M. W. Dixon|Dixon, R. M. W.]], & Onishi, M. (Eds). (2001). ''Non-canonical Marking of Subjects and Objects''. Netherlands: John Benjamins.
* Anderson, Stephen. (1976). On the notion of subject in ergative languages. In C. Li. (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp.&nbsp;1–24). New York: Academic Press.
* Anderson, Stephen R. (1985). Inflectional morphology. In T. Shopen (Ed.), ''Language typology and syntactic description: Grammatical categories and the lexicon'' (Vol. 3, pp.&nbsp;150–201). Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
*Chen, V. (2017). [https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/003904 ''A reexamination of the Philippine-type voice system and its implications for Austronesian primary-level subgrouping'' (Doctoral dissertation)]. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
* Comrie, Bernard. (1978). Ergativity. In W. P. Lehmann (Ed.), ''Syntactic typology: Studies in the phenomenology of language'' (pp.&nbsp;329–394). Austin: University of Texas Press.
* Dixon, R. M. W. (1979). Ergativity. ''Language'', ''55'' (1), 59–138. (Revised as Dixon 1994).
* Dixon, R. M. W. (Ed.) (1987). ''Studies in ergativity''. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
* Dixon, R. M. W. (1994). ''Ergativity''. Cambridge University Press.
* Foley, William; & [[Robert Van Valin Jr.|Van Valin, Robert]]. (1984). ''Functional syntax and universal grammar''. Cambridge University Press.
* Kroeger, Paul. (1993). ''Phrase structure and grammatical relations in Tagalog''. Stanford: CSLI.
* Mallinson, Graham; & Blake, Barry J. (1981). Agent and patient marking. ''Language typology: Cross-linguistic studies in syntax'' (Chap. 2, pp.&nbsp;39–120). North-Holland linguistic series. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company.
*Patri, Sylvain (2007), ''L'alignement syntaxique dans les langues indo-européennes d'Anatolie'', ''([[StBoT]] 49)'', Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, {{ISBN|978-3-447-05612-0}}
* Plank, Frans. (Ed.). (1979). ''Ergativity: Towards a theory of grammatical relations''. London: Academic Press.
* Schachter, Paul. (1976). The subject in Philippine languages: Actor, topic, actor–topic, or none of the above. In C. Li. (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp.&nbsp;491–518). New York: Academic Press.
* Schachter, Paul. (1977). Reference-related and role-related properties of subjects. In P. Cole & J. Sadock (Eds.), ''Syntax and semantics: Grammatical relations'' (Vol. 8, pp.&nbsp;279–306). New York: Academic Press.
*van de Visser, M. (2006). ''The marked status of ergativity''. Netherlands: LOT Publications.
*Wouk, F. & Ross, M. (Eds.). (2002). ''The history and typology of western Austronesian voice systems''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, ANU Press.
{{div col end}}

{{Grammatical cases}}

[[Category:Grammar]]