Editing Ergative–absolutive alignment (section)

====Example====

Example of syntactic ergativity in the "[[conjunction reduction]]" construction ([[coordinated clause]]s) in [[Dyirbal language|Dyirbal]] in contrast with English conjunction reduction. (The subscript (i) indicates coreference.)

[[English language|English]] ([[Agent–verb–object|SVO]] word order):
# Father returned.
# Father saw mother.
# Mother saw father.
# Father<sub>(i)</sub> returned and father<sub>(i)</sub> saw mother.
# Father<sub>(i)</sub> returned and ____<sub>(i)</sub> saw mother.
# Father<sub>(i)</sub> returned and mother saw father<sub>(i)</sub>.
#<nowiki>*</nowiki> Father<sub>(i)</sub> returned and mother saw ____<sub>(i)</sub>. (ill-formed, because S and deleted O cannot be [[coreference|coreferential]].)

[[Dyirbal language|Dyirbal]] ([[Object–subject–verb|OSV]] word order):
# Ŋuma banagan<sup>y</sup>u. (''Father returned.'')
# Yabu ŋumaŋgu buṛan. (lit. ''Mother father-''ŋgu'' saw'', i.e. ''Father saw mother.'')
# Ŋuma yabuŋgu buṛan. (lit. ''Father mother-''ŋgu'' saw'', i.e. ''Mother saw father.'')
# Ŋuma<sub>(i)</sub> banagan<sup>y</sup>u, yabu ŋumaŋgu<sub>(i)</sub> buṛan. (lit. ''Father''<sub>(i)</sub>'' returned, mother father-''ŋgu<sub>(i)</sub>'' saw'', i.e. ''Father returned, father saw mother.'')
#<nowiki>*</nowiki> Ŋuma<sub>(i)</sub> banagan<sup>y</sup>u, yabu ____<sub>(i)</sub> buṛan. (lit. *''Father''<sub>(i)</sub>'' returned, mother ____''<sub>(i)</sub>'' saw''; ill-formed, because S and deleted A cannot be coreferential.)
# Ŋuma<sub>(i)</sub> banagan<sup>y</sup>u, ŋuma<sub>(i)</sub> yabuŋgu buṛan. (lit. ''Father''<sub>(i)</sub>'' returned, father''<sub>(i)</sub>'' mother-''ŋgu'' saw'', i.e. ''Father returned, mother saw father.'')
# Ŋuma<sub>(i)</sub> banagan<sup>y</sup>u, ____<sub>(i)</sub> yabuŋgu buṛan. (lit. ''Father''<sub>(i)</sub>'' returned, ____''<sub>(i)</sub>'' mother-''ŋgu'' saw'', i.e. ''Father returned, mother saw father.'')

Crucially, the fifth sentence has an S/A pivot and thus is ill-formed in Dyirbal (syntactically ergative); on the other hand, the seventh sentence has an S/O pivot and thus is ill-formed in English (syntactically accusative).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="2" | ''Father returned.''
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">father</span>
| returned
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span>
| VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="6" | ''Father returned, and father saw mother.''
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">father</span>
| returned
| and
| <span style="color:#008000">father</span>
| saw
| <span style="color:#800000">mother</span>
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span>
| VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
| <small>CONJ</small>
| <span style="color:#008000">'''A'''</span>
| VERB<sub>trans</sub>
| <span style="color:#800000">'''O'''</span>
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="6" | ''Father returned and saw mother.''
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">father</span>
| returned
| and
| <small><span style="color:#008000">____</span></small>
| saw
| <span style="color:#800000">mother</span>
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span>
| VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
| <small>CONJ</small>
| <span style="color:#008000">'''A'''</span>
| VERB<sub>trans</sub>
| <span style="color:#800000">'''O'''</span>
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="2" | ''Ŋuma banagan<sup>y</sup>u.''
|-
| ŋuma<span style="color:#008000">'''-∅'''</span>
| banagan<sup>y</sup>u
|-
| father<span style="color:#008000">'''-<small>ABS</small>'''</span>
| returned
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span>
| VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
|-
| colspan="2" | "Father returned."
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="3" | ''Yabu ŋumaŋgu buṛan.''
|-
| yabu<span style="color:#008000">'''-∅'''</span>
| ŋuma<span style="color:#800000">'''-ŋgu'''</span>
| buṛan
|-
| mother<span style="color:#008000">'''-<small>ABS</small>'''</span>
| father<span style="color:#800000">'''-<small>ERG</small>'''</span>
| saw
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''O'''</span>
| <span style="color:#800000">'''A'''</span>
| VERB<sub>trans</sub>
|-
| colspan="3" | "Father saw mother."
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="3" | ''Ŋuma yabuŋgu buṛan.''
|-
| ŋuma<span style="color:#008000">'''-∅'''</span>
| yabu<span style="color:#800000">'''-ŋgu'''</span>
| buṛan
|-
| father<span style="color:#008000">'''-<small>ABS</small>'''</span>
| mother<span style="color:#800000">'''-<small>ERG</small>'''</span>
| saw
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''O'''</span>
| <span style="color:#800000">'''A'''</span>
| VERB<sub>trans</sub>
|-
| colspan="3" | "Mother saw father."
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="5" | ''Ŋuma banagan<sup>y</sup>u, ŋuma yabuŋgu buṛan.''
|-
| ŋuma<span style="color:#008000">'''-∅'''</span>
| banagan<sup>y</sup>u
| ŋuma<span style="color:#008000">'''-∅'''</span>
| yabu<span style="color:#800000">'''-ŋgu'''</span>
| buṛan
|-
| father<span style="color:#008000">'''-<small>ABS</small>'''</span>
| returned
| father<span style="color:#008000">'''-<small>ABS</small>'''</span>
| mother<span style="color:#800000">'''-<small>ERG</small>'''</span>
| saw
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span>
| VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
| <span style="color:#008000">'''O'''</span>
| <span style="color:#800000">'''A'''</span>
| VERB<sub>trans</sub>
|-
| colspan="5" | "Father returned and mother saw father."
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="5" | ''Ŋuma banagan<sup>y</sup>u, yabuŋgu buṛan.''
|-
| ŋuma<span style="color:#008000">'''-∅'''</span>
| banagan<sup>y</sup>u
| <span style="color:#008000">____</span>
| yabu<span style="color:#800000">'''-ŋgu'''</span>
| buṛan
|-
| father<span style="color:#008000">'''-<small>ABS</small>'''</span>
| returned
| <span style="color:#008000"><small>(deleted)</small></span>
| mother<span style="color:#800000">'''-<small>ERG</small>'''</span>
| saw
|-
| <span style="color:#008000">'''S'''</span>
| VERB<sub>intrans</sub>
| <span style="color:#008000">'''O'''</span>
| <span style="color:#800000">'''A'''</span>
| VERB<sub>trans</sub>
|-
| colspan="5" | "Father returned and was seen by mother."
|}