absolutive

[ab-suh-loo-tiv]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to the grammatical case or inflectional form of the subject of an intransitive verb and the direct object of a transitive verb in an ergative language such as Inuit.

noun

1. an absolutive form of a word in an ergative language.

2. the absolutive case.

Word History and Origins

Origin of absolutive¹

First recorded in 1860–65; absolut(e) ( def. ) + -ive ( def. )

Example Sentences

Mi di, e.g., “man this, the man” is an absolutive form which may be used as the subject of an intransitive verb.

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