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Home › Languages › Georgian

Georgian

Glottocode: nucl1302

Genalogical classification: Kartvelian

Original alignment pattern: Ergative

Source construction: Three different transitive source constructions with ergative alignment: (i) unergatives with optional direct object and A in the ergative case, as in (1); (ii) noun incorporation with the generic verb 'do' in light verb constructions, as in (2); (iii) reflexive constructions with optional direct object, as in (3).

Developmental mechanism: Verbs involved in the three transitive constructions take an ergative marked A, but under different conditions the direct object can be left unexpressed, resulting in a new intransitive construction, with the new S retaining the marking of the original A.

Intermediate stage: As a consequence of the reinterpretation of the originally transitive construction (i) to (iii) as intransitive, ergative marking is subsequently extended to the S arguments of all unergative intransitive verbs in Series II.

Resulting construction: The S subject of the Series II unergatives in the resulting intransitive construction is marked in the same way as the original ergative A. Other intransitives take non-ergative S subjects.

Type of change: Reinterpretation of argument structure and extension

Alignment in the resulting construction: Nominative-Accusative

Global alignment pattern following the change: Split intransitivity

Constraints on the distribution of the resulting alignment: Split in the marking of S participants, limited to verbs in Series II.

Grammatical domains: Case marking

Symmetry: Symmetric

Type of data: Internal reconstruction

References: Harris 2010:213-216