Appendix:Grammar/Substantives/Cases/Hie varsein vazjaa

Hie varsein vazjaa is a system of nominal (i.e. substantives and pronouns, and often adjectives) declensions that is fundamentally different from typical Zekaisivarsi vazjaa. Rather than nominative-accusative alignment, Hie varsei uses ergative-absolutive classification.
=== Definition of terms ===
An alignment is a system of the relationship between multiple substantives in a clause.
Nominative-accusative alignment marks a noun as either the subject of a verb or the object of a verb, respectively.
Ergative-absolutive alignment marks a noun according to its agency or patiency, whether it does or undergoes an action, respectively.
=== Common Standard Zekaisivarsi ===
Common Standard Zekaiseivarsi is the dialect of Zekaisivarsi that is accepted as proper by the majority of Zekaiseii and that is upheld by the Rhajazekaisivar (institution for the Zekaiseivarsei language). It differentiates between subjects and objects by the nominative-accusative alignment. To learn about CSZ vazjaa, click here.
=== Hie varsei vazjaa===
Hie varsei makes use of the ergative-absolutive alignment whereby the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb are marked in the same case, the absolutive, whereas the subject of a transitive verb is marked in a different case, the ergative. 
==== Absolutive case ====
Absolutive (jur zi wai - class of actionlessness/inactivity; jur urea - class of undergoing; jur yer wai - class of acting upon oneself) is the pure form of a noun, unmarked and inactive, used to indicate that or one which is either passive, that is, simply experiencing an action, or reflexive, acting upon oneself. Intransitive verbs are considered reflexive.
zu jei ameyi. I love you. zu is in the absolutive case because zu is the direct recipient or patient of the action. 
jis ar. Someone lives. ar is in the absolutive case because it is the subject of the intransitive verb jis "one lives"; in other words, ar is the patient, or experiencer and direct object, of the verb jis. How is ar a direct object, and what is the subject? ar is the object because one can only live oneself; one cannot live an entity other than oneself, also making ar the subject, because ar jis ar. 
jix ar. Someone gives life to himself/herself. ar is in the absolutive case because it is the agent of the reflexive verb jix "one gives life to", thus making it also the patient who experiences the giving of life. 
==== Ergative case ====
Ergative (jur wai au - class of action) is the marked form of a noun, usually with -i or some other affix, showing that the noun acts upon someone or something. It acts as the first argument of a transitive verb, comparable to the "subject" in English.
zu jei ameyi. I love you. jei is marked with the suffix -i to indicate that jei is the doer of the action.
Category:Grammar