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Ergative vs Label - What's the difference?

ergative | label |

As nouns the difference between ergative and label

is that ergative is (linguistics) the ergative case while label is a small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.

As an adjective ergative

is (grammar) used of various situations where the subject of transitive constructions have different grammatical cases or thematic relations to those of intransitive constructions.

As a verb label is

to put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).

ergative

English

Adjective

(-)
  • (grammar) Used of various situations where the subject of transitive constructions have different grammatical cases or thematic relations to those of intransitive constructions.
    • The case systems of ergative languages are counterintuitive to speakers of Indo-European languages.
  • * 1987 , George Van Driem, A Grammar of Limbu , page 39,
    • The ergative' case marks the agent of a transitive verb. The '''ergative''' suffix is ''-le/-re/-lle/-?ille''. The form of the '''ergative suffix is ''/-le/'' for the indefinite and ''/-?ille/'' for the definite after the consonants ''/?/'', ''/k/'', ''/t/'', ''/p/'', ''/b/'', ''/?/'', ''/n/'' and ''/m/ .
  • *
    • To illustrate what is meant by an ‘Ergative? structure, consider the following set of examples:
    (155) (a)      John broke the door''
    (155) (b)      ''The door'' broke
    (156) (a)      John might drown ''the kittens''
    (156) (b)      ''The kittens'' might drown
    (157) (a)      The artillery will sink ''the ship''
    (157) (b)      ''The ship'' will sink
    (158) (a)      John rolled ''the ball'' down the hill
    (158) (b)      ''The ball'' rolled down the hill
    Following the terminology adopted in Chapter 7 (after Burzio (1986), p. 30), we might say that the (a) member of each of these pairs is a ''transitive'' structure, and the (b) member an ''ergative'' structure. In Burzio?s use of the term, an ''ergative     Clause is an intransitive Clause which has a transitive counterpart in which the transitive Object corresponds to the ergative Subject.
  • * 2000 , Hans Bennis, Adjectives and Argument Structure'', Peter Coopmans, Martin Everaert, Jane Barbara Grimshaw (editors), ''Lexical Specification and Insertion , page 28,
    • A large number of adjectives that are unergative according to the tests provided in Section 2 appear to be ergative with respect to their argument structure.
  • * 2008 , Geoffrey Khan, HdO: The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar , page 22,
    • In Kurdish, on the other hand, the corresponding compound construction, which appears to have been the model for the NENA[North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic] construction, is ergative in form when the verb is transitive.

    Derived terms

    * ergative case * ergative verb

    Related terms

    * ergativity * unergative

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (linguistics) The ergative case.
  • * 2006 , Miriam Butt, Theories of Case , page 178.
    • There are some languages in which the ergative is not acquired as quickly or as easily as described above.
  • (linguistics) An ergative verb or other expression.
  • * 1987 , Edward L. Keenan, Noun Phrase Accessibility and Universal Grammar'', ''Universal Grammar: 15 Essays , page 26,
    • Woodbury (1975) does argue, however, that absolutives are more relativisable in Greenlandic than are ergatives', on the grounds that (1) RCs[Relative Clauses] formed on '''ergatives''' are somewhat more restricted in the distribution in matrix clauses (p. 21) than are those formed on absolutives, and (2) for certain verb classes ' ergatives cannot be relativised out of the active participle (p. 27).
  • * 1994 , Virginia Yip, Chapter 6: Grammatical consciousness-raising and learnability'', Terence Odlin (editor), ''Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar , page 128,
    • Ergatives' share close similarities with agentless passives: Both are intransitive, both lack an agent, while the patient appears in the subject position. As the acquisition data show, learners seem to treat ' ergatives like passives.
  • * 2012 , Michael A. Daniel, Timur A. Maisak, Solmaz R. Merdanova, Causatives in Agul'', Pirkko Suihkonen, Bernard Comrie, V. D. Solov?ev (editors), ''Argument Structure and Grammatical Relations: A Crosslinguistic Typology , page 66,
    • Combining two ergatives' in one clause is not always ungrammatical in Agul; but one of the ' ergatives must be used in a non-agentive function, e.g. instrumental or temporal.

    See also

    * absolutive * stative ----

    label

    English

    Alternative forms

    * labell (non-standard)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.
    • We laughed at her because the label was still on her new sweater.
    The label says this silk scarf should not be washed in the washing machine.
    Although the label priced this poster at three pounds, I got it for two.
  • A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.
    • Ever since he started going to the rock club, he's been given the label "waster".
  • A company that sells records.
    • The label signed the band after hearing a demo tape.
  • (computing) A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration.
    • Storage devices can be given by label or ID.
  • (computing) A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
  • (heraldiccharge) A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.
  • (obsolete) A tassel.
    • (Huloet)
    (Fuller)
  • A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will.
  • A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes.
    • (Knight)
  • (architecture) The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture.
  • In mediaeval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
    • (Fairholt)

    Synonyms

    * (small ticket) sign, tag, ticket * (name given to something or someone) category, pigeonhole * (heraldry) lambel

    Derived terms

    * designer label

    Verb

  • To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).
    • The shop assistant labeled all the products in the shop.
  • To give a label to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.
    • He's been unfairly labeled as a cheat, although he's only ever cheated once.

    Synonyms

    * (put a ticket or sign on) tag, price * (give a label to in order to categorise) categorise, compartmentalise, pigeonhole

    References

    * *

    Anagrams

    * ----