unergative
/ʌnˈɝɡətɪv/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Intransitive and having an agent as its subject.
noun
An unergative verb.
Example Sentences
- "In Section 1 I will discuss the existence of a class of ergative adjectives in Dutch[…]. It will be demonstrated that there are a number of arguments supporting the claim that the class of adjectives should be divided into ergative and unergative adjectives. A large number of adjectives that are unergative according to the tests provided in Section 2 appear to be ergative with respect to their argument structure."
- "1998, Eloise Jelinek, Voice and Transitivity as Functional Projections in Yaqui, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds., “The Projection of Arguments” We have seen that Unergatives and Unaccusatives differ in 1) permitting the derivation of an Impersonal Passive, and 2) in licensing purpose clauses, since Unergatives have active subjects, and Unaccusatives do not."
Etymology
From un- + ergative, from the fact that in an ergative-absolutive language, the only case which uniquely identifies a volitional argument is the ergative case, which marks the agent of a transitive verb.
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: un
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʌnˈɝɡətɪv/
- British English: /ʌnˈɜːɡətɪv/