Nominative-accusative system

Definition

The nominative-accusative system is a type of morphosyntactic alignment in which the subject of an intransitive verb is treated the same as the subject of a transitive verb (both marked with the nominative case), while the object of a transitive verb is marked differently (with the accusative case). This system is prevalent in many languages, including English, and influences how sentences are structured and understood.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. In a nominative-accusative system, subjects of both transitive and intransitive verbs share the same case marking, while transitive verbs have a distinct case marking for their objects.
2. Languages like English, German, and Russian exhibit a nominative-accusative system, making it easier to identify subjects and objects within sentences.
3. This system contrasts with ergative-absolutive systems, where the treatment of subjects differs based on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive.
4. The nominative-accusative alignment allows for clearer sentence structures, which can help reduce ambiguity in understanding who is doing what in a sentence.
5. Understanding this system is crucial for analyzing cross-linguistic syntactic variation and how different languages handle subject-object relationships.

Review Questions

• How does the nominative-accusative system influence sentence structure in languages that utilize it?
  • The nominative-accusative system simplifies sentence structure by treating the subjects of both transitive and intransitive verbs in the same way, using the nominative case. This consistency helps speakers and listeners quickly identify who is performing an action and what is receiving that action. As a result, it reduces potential confusion about roles within a sentence, making communication more effective.
• Compare the nominative-accusative system with ergative-absolutive systems in terms of their treatment of subjects and objects.
  • In a nominative-accusative system, both subjects of transitive and intransitive verbs are marked similarly (nominative), while objects of transitive verbs receive different marking (accusative). Conversely, ergative-absolutive systems treat the subject of an intransitive verb like the object of a transitive verb (absolutive), while the subject of a transitive verb is marked differently (ergative). This fundamental difference highlights how languages can vary dramatically in their approach to expressing roles within sentences.
• Evaluate the implications of nominative-accusative alignment on language acquisition and processing for learners of such languages.
  • Nominative-accusative alignment has significant implications for language acquisition and processing, as learners must grasp how to recognize and use case markings correctly. For speakers of languages with this system, understanding subject-object relationships becomes more intuitive due to consistent marking patterns. This predictability can aid learners in forming grammatically correct sentences more quickly. Furthermore, during processing, this alignment allows for faster comprehension since listeners can easily distinguish between agents and patients based on case markings.

Related terms

Ergativity: A type of morphosyntactic alignment where the subject of an intransitive verb is treated like the object of a transitive verb, differing from both the nominative and accusative patterns.

Case Marking: The grammatical marking that indicates the syntactic function of nouns and pronouns in a sentence, often through inflections or changes in form.

Transitivity: A grammatical property of verbs that indicates whether they require or allow objects, affecting how subjects and objects are expressed in sentences.