Basque language

Grammar

Basque is an ergative-absolutive language. The subject of an intransitive verb is in the absolutive case (which is unmarked), and the same case is used for the direct object of a transitive verb. The subject of the transitive verb (that is, the agent) is marked differently, with the ergative case (shown by the suffix -k). This also triggers main and auxiliary verbal agreement.

Related Topics:
Ergative-absolutive language - Absolutive case - Ergative case

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The auxiliary verb which accompanies most main verbs agrees not only with the subject, but with the direct object and the indirect object, if present. Among European languages, this polypersonal system (multiple verb agreement) is only found in Basque and some Caucasian languages. The ergative-absolutive alignment is also unique among European languages, and rather rare worldwide.

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Consider the phrase:

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:Martinek egunkariak erosten dizkit.

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:"Martin buys the newspapers for me."

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Martin-ek is the agent (transitive subject), so it is marked with the ergative case ending -k (with an epenthetic -e-). Egunkariak has an -ak ending which marks plural object (plural absolutive, direct object case). The verb is erosten dizkit, in which erosten is a kind of gerund ("buying") and the auxiliary dizkit indicates:

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• di- marks a verb with both a direct object and an indirect one, in the present tense;
• -zki- is the number of the direct object (in this case the newspapers; if it were singular there would be no suffix); and
• -t is the indirect object mark: "for me".
• in this instance a null case 0 equates to the " nork ", which in most European languages would be the subject.
• you buy the newspapers for me would translate as ;

Zuek egunkariak erosten dizkidazue

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The auxiliary verb is composed as di-zki-da-zue

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( equivalent terms in European languages )

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di- = direct object

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