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Bagandji
Glottocode: darl1243
Genalogical classification: Pama-Nyungan
Original alignment pattern: Nominative
Source construction: Transitive sentences in which unexpected Agents are marked by a demonstrative: 'X, this one did Y'.
Developmental mechanism: Demonstratives used to emphasize unexpected Agents are reinterpreted as markers for A arguments: 'A-DEM did P'
Resulting construction: Overt ergative marking for A arguments, S and P remain unmarked, as in (1).
Type of change: Grammaticalization
Alignment in the resulting construction: Ergative-Absolutive
Global alignment pattern following the change: NP-based split ergativity
Constraints on the distribution of the resulting alignment: Restricted to nouns.
Grammatical domains: Case marking
Symmetry: Asymmetric
Type of data: Internal reconstruction
References: McGregor 2008
Examples
(1) Bagandji (Pama-Nyungan; McGregor 2008:309)
| yarty-thurru | kaanti-t-urru-ana |
| wind-DEM/ERG | carry-FUT-3SG.SUBJ-3SG.OBJ |
‘This wind will carry it along / The wind will carry it along’