Nominative-absolutive language
Encyclopedia
A nominative–absolutive language, also called a marked nominative language, is a language with an unusual morphosyntactic alignment
similar to, and often considered a subtype of, a nominative–accusative alignment. In a prototypical nominative–accusative language with a grammatical case
system, like Latin
, the object of a verb is marked for accusative case
, while the subject of the verb may or may not be marked for nominative case
. The nominative, whether or not marked morphologically, is also used as the citation form of the noun. In a marked nominative system, on the other hand, it is the nominative case alone that is marked morphologically, and it is the unmarked accusative case that is used as the citation form of the noun. Because this resembles an absolutive case
, it is often called a nominative–absolutive system.
Marked nominative languages are relatively rare. They are only well documented in two regions of the world: in northeast Africa, where they occur in several branches of the Cushitic
and Omotic
families of Afro-Asiatic, as well as in the Surmic
and Nilotic languages
of the Eastern Sudanic
family; and in the southwestern United States and adjoining parts of Mexico, where they are characteristic of the Yuman family. Other languages interpreted by some authors as having a marked nominative system include other Afro-Asiatic languages such as some Berber
tongues, Igbo
, and Aymara
.
In Yuman and many of the Cushitic languages, however, the nominative is not always marked, for reasons which are not known; these may therefore not be a strict case system, but rather reflect discourse patterns or other non-semantic
parameters. However, the Yuman language Havasupai
is reported to have a purely syntactic case system, with a suffix -č marking all subjects of transitive and intransitive verbs, but not of the copula; in the Nilotic language Datooga
the system is also reported to be purely syntactic.
As in many Nilotic languages, Datooga case is marked by tone. The absolutive case has the unpredictable tone of the citation form of the noun, whereas the nominative is marked by a characteristic tone which obliterates this lexical tone. (The tone is high for words of three syllables or less; for words with four or more syllables, the ends of the word have high tone, with a low tone in the middle of the word.) The nominative is used for subjects following the verb; the absolutive with the copula, with subjects in focus position before the verb, and in all other situations.
Morphosyntactic alignment
In linguistics, morphosyntactic alignment is the system used to distinguish between the arguments of transitive verbs and those of intransitive verbs...
similar to, and often considered a subtype of, a nominative–accusative alignment. In a prototypical nominative–accusative language with a grammatical case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
system, like Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, the object of a verb is marked for accusative case
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
, while the subject of the verb may or may not be marked for nominative case
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
. The nominative, whether or not marked morphologically, is also used as the citation form of the noun. In a marked nominative system, on the other hand, it is the nominative case alone that is marked morphologically, and it is the unmarked accusative case that is used as the citation form of the noun. Because this resembles an absolutive case
Absolutive case
The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:...
, it is often called a nominative–absolutive system.
Marked nominative languages are relatively rare. They are only well documented in two regions of the world: in northeast Africa, where they occur in several branches of the Cushitic
Cushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. They are named after the Biblical character Cush, who was identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these specific languages as early as AD 947...
and Omotic
Omotic languages
The Omotic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic family spoken in southwestern Ethiopia. The Ge'ez alphabet is used to write some Omotic languages, the Roman alphabet for some others. They are fairly agglutinative, and have complex tonal systems .-Language list:The North and South Omotic...
families of Afro-Asiatic, as well as in the Surmic
Surmic languages
The Surmic Languages are a branch of the Eastern Sudanic language family.-Languages:*North: Majang *South**Southeast: Kwegu , Me'en, Mursi, Suri...
and Nilotic languages
Nilotic languages
The Nilotic languages are a group of Eastern Sudanic languages spoken across a wide area between southern Sudan and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples, particularly associated with cattle-herding...
of the Eastern Sudanic
Eastern Sudanic languages
Ehret 2001 [1984]Ehret, published in 2001 but circulating in manuscript form since at least 1984, calls the family "Eastern Sahelian", and idiosyncratically adds the Kuliak languages and Berta, which Bender assigns to higher-level branches of Nilo-Saharan, and reassigns Nyima to the southern branch...
family; and in the southwestern United States and adjoining parts of Mexico, where they are characteristic of the Yuman family. Other languages interpreted by some authors as having a marked nominative system include other Afro-Asiatic languages such as some Berber
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
tongues, Igbo
Igbo language
Igbo , or Igbo proper, is a native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group primarily located in southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 20 million speakers that are mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is a national language of Nigeria. It is written in the Latin...
, and Aymara
Aymara language
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
.
In Yuman and many of the Cushitic languages, however, the nominative is not always marked, for reasons which are not known; these may therefore not be a strict case system, but rather reflect discourse patterns or other non-semantic
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
parameters. However, the Yuman language Havasupai
Havasupai language
Havasupai is a dialect of the Upland Yuman language spoken by fewer than 450 people on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon...
is reported to have a purely syntactic case system, with a suffix -č marking all subjects of transitive and intransitive verbs, but not of the copula; in the Nilotic language Datooga
Datooga language
The Datooga language is a Nilotic language, or actually a dialect cluster, of the Southern group. It is spoken by the Datooga people of the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania....
the system is also reported to be purely syntactic.
As in many Nilotic languages, Datooga case is marked by tone. The absolutive case has the unpredictable tone of the citation form of the noun, whereas the nominative is marked by a characteristic tone which obliterates this lexical tone. (The tone is high for words of three syllables or less; for words with four or more syllables, the ends of the word have high tone, with a low tone in the middle of the word.) The nominative is used for subjects following the verb; the absolutive with the copula, with subjects in focus position before the verb, and in all other situations.