Ergative Alignment
The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings: * Ergative case, the grammatical case of the subject of a transitive verb in an ergative-absolutive language * Ergative–absolutive language, a language in which the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb * Ergative verb In general linguistics, a labile verb (or ergative / diffused / ambivalent verb) is a verb that undergoes causative alternation; that is, it can be used both transitively and intransitively, with the requirement that the direct object of its t ...

Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rules, a subject that includes phonology, morphology (linguistics), morphology, and syntax, together with phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. There are, broadly speaking, two different ways to study grammar: traditional grammar and #Theoretical frameworks, theoretical grammar. Fluency in a particular language variety involves a speaker internalizing these rules, many or most of which are language acquisition, acquired by observing other speakers, as opposed to intentional study or language teaching, instruction. Much of this internalization occurs during early childhood; learning a language later in life usually involves more direct instruction. The term ''grammar'' can also describe the linguistic behaviour of groups of speakers and writer ...
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Ergative Case
In grammar, the ergative case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that identifies a nominal phrase as the agent of a transitive verb in ergative–absolutive languages. Characteristics In such languages, the ergative case is typically marked (most salient), while the absolutive case is unmarked. Recent work in case theory has vigorously supported the idea that the ergative case identifies the agent (the intentful performer of an action) of a verb. In Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) for example, the ergative case is used to mark subjects of transitive verbs and possessors of nouns. This syncretism with the genitive is commonly referred to as the ''relative'' case. Nez Perce has a three-way nominal case system with both ergative (''-nim'') and accusative (''-ne'') plus an absolute (unmarked) case for intransitive subjects: ''hipáayna qíiwn'' ‘the old man arrived’; ''hipáayna wewúkiye'' ‘the elk arrived’; ''wewúkiyene péexne qíiwnim'' ‘the old man saw an elkâ ...
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