X-Nico

3 unusual facts about morphosyntactic alignment


Sirenik Eskimo language

To see why a single case can play such distinct roles at all, read morphosyntactic alignment, and also a short table about it.

Svan language

It has agreement between subject and object, and a split-ergative morphosyntactic system.

Thematic relation

For example, in the typological tradition agents/actors are tied closely to the notion of subject (S).


Mixe languages

The morphosyntactic alignment of Mixe is ergative and it also has an obviative system which serves to distinguish between verb participants in reference to its direct–inverse system.

Nominative–absolutive language

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.


see also