Ergative case

Cuneiform inscription Lugal Kiengi Kiuri 𒈗𒆠𒂗𒄀𒆠𒌵, "King of Sumer and Akkad", on a seal of Sumerian king Shulgi (r. c. 2094–2047 BCE). The final ke4 𒆤 is the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e (ergative case).[1]

In grammar, the ergative case (abbreviated erg) is the grammatical case that identifies a nominal phrase[2] as the agent of a transitive verb in ergative–absolutive languages.[3]

  1. ^ Edzard, Dietz-Otto (2003). Sumerian Grammar. BRILL. p. 36. ISBN 978-90-474-0340-1.
  2. ^ Loos, Eugene. "Glossary of linguistic terms". LinguaLinks Library 5.0 Plus. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  3. ^ Haspelmath, Martin. 2022. Ergative, absolutive, accusative and nominative as comparative concepts. In Iomdin, Leonid & Milićević, Jasmina & Polguère, Alain (eds.), Lifetime linguistic inspirations: To Igor Mel’čuk, 201–213. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. (doi:10.5281/zenodo.7625026) (https://zenodo.org/record/7625026)