The term ergative is used in
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 rul ...
in three different meanings:
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Ergative case, the grammatical case of the subject of a transitive verb in an ergative-absolutive language
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Ergative–absolutive language, a language in which the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb
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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 ...
, a verb whose subject when intransitive corresponds to its direct object when transitive
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