The document discusses different structures that languages can use to mark subjects and objects in sentences. It begins by explaining transitive and intransitive verbs, then describes the accusative structure used in European languages where the subject is nominative and the direct object is accusative. Next, it introduces the ergative structure used in Tibetan, where the absolutive case marks patients and objects of transitive verbs, while the ergative case marks agents and subjects of transitive verbs. For intransitive verbs, the subject is in the absolutive case like the object of a transitive verb. This ergative structure is uncommon but used in other languages besides Tibetan such as Basque, Caucasian, Australian Aboriginal, and

1. The ergative structure

2. What is the transitivity?
Before we begin anything, you need to
understand the transitivity.
It is a property that every verb has, here is how
it works:
one or several objects → transitive verb
no object
→ intransitive verb

3. What is the transitivity?
• transitive verbs (one or several objects):
I study languages, he eats a banana
You write a letter to your friend
• intransitive verbs (no object):
I sleep every afternoon
I will run tonight
those are adverbials,
not objects

4. The accusative structure
In European languages, the structure of a
sentence is called "accusative". It means that the
subject is in nominative case (the basic case of a
word) while the direct object is marked with
accusative case (and indirect object with dative
case).
English and Romance languages lost their cases
but Germanic and Slavic languages still have
them.

5. The ergative structure
Well, Tibetan has a completely different structure,
it is called "ergative".
Here, the basic case is the absolutive case. It is
used not with the subject, but with the patient,
the one supporting the action.
The second main case is the ergative case which is
used with the agent, the one doing the action.

6. The ergative structure
In case of a transitive verb, if I say:
"I give him an apple", what word is the patient?
And the agent?
Well, the patient is "the apple", supporting the
action, it did not ask for it. And the agent is "I".
In fact, the object is not marked (absolutive is
the basic case) while the subject is marked
(ergative case).

7. The ergative structure
But in the case of an intransitive verb (to sleep,
to lie, to fall, to walk, to die, to go, to run…), the
subject is in the absolutive case, just like the
object of a transitive verb!

8. That kind of structure might seem strange
because it is very uncommun, but a lot of
languages use it beside Tibetan: the Basque
language, the Caucasian languages, the
Australian Aboriginal languages, the Mayan
languages…