science

Tripartite alignment

Tripartite alignment is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tripartite alignment rather than just read about it. In short: In linguistic typology, tripartite alignment is a type of morphosyntactic alignment in which the main argument ('subject') of an intransitive verb, the agent argument ('subject') of a transitive verb, and the patient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb are each treated distinctly in the grammatical system of a language. This is in contrast with nominative-accusative and ergative-absolutive alignment lang…

Key takeaways

Tripartite alignment belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tripartite alignment to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tripartite alignment from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In linguistic typology, tripartite alignment is a type of morphosyntactic alignment in which the main argument ('subject') of an intransitive verb, the agent argument ('subject') of a transitive verb, and the patient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb are each treated distinctly in the grammatical system of a language. This is in contrast with nominative-accusative and ergative-absolutive alignment languages, in which the argument of an intransitive verb patterns with either the agent argument of the transitive (in accusative languages) or with the patient argument of the transitive (in ergative languages). Thus, whereas in English, "she" in "she runs" patterns with "she" in "she finds it", and an ergative language would pattern "she" in "she runs" with "her" in "he likes her", a tripartite language would treat the "she" in "she runs" as morphologically and/or syntactically distinct from either argument in "he likes her". Which languages constitute genuine examples of a tripartite case alignment is a matter of debate; however, Wangkumara, Nez Perce, Ainu, Vakh Khanty, Semelai, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kham, and Yazghulami have all been claimed to demonstrate tripartite structure in at least some part of their grammar. While tripartite alignments are rare in natural languages, they have proven popular in constructed languages, notably the Na'vi language featured in 2009's Avatar. In languages with morphological case, a tritransitive alignment typically marks the agent argument of a transitive verb with an ergative case, the patient argument of a transitive verb with the accusative case, and the argument of an intransitive verb with an intransitive case.

Tripartite, Ergative and Accusative systems A tripartite language does not maintain any syntactic or morphological equivalence (such as word order or grammatical case) between the core argument of intransitive verbs and either core argument of transitive verbs. In full tripartite alignment systems, this entails the agent argument of intransitive verbs always being treated differently from each of the core arguments of transitive verbs, whereas for mixed system intransitive alignment systems this may only entail that certain classes of noun are treated differently between these syntactic positions.

The arguments of a verb are usually symbolized as follows:

A = 'agent' argument of a transitive verb (traditional transitive subject) O = 'patient' argument of a transitive verb (traditional transitive object) S = argument of an intransitive verb (traditional intransitive subject) The relationship between accusative, ergative, and tripartite alignments can be schematically represented as follows:

See morphosyntactic alignment for a more technical explanation. The term 'subject' has been found to be problematic when applied to languages which have any morphosyntactic alignment other than nominative-accusative, and hence, reference to the 'agent' argument of transitive sentences is preferred to the term 'subject'.

Types of tripartite systems Languages may be designated as tripartite languages in virtue of having either a full tripartite morphosyntactic alignment, or in virtue of having a mixed system which results in tripartite treatment of one or more specific classes of nouns.

Full tripartite systems A full tripartite system distinguishes between S, A and O arguments in all classes of nominals. It has been claimed that Wangkumara has the only recorded full tripartite alignment system.

Example Wangkumara consistently differentiates marking on S, A, and O arguments in the morphology, as demonstrated in example (1) below:

In the above example, the intransitive case in (a) is glossed NOM, in accordance with Breen's original transcription. Across (1), we see differential case suffixes for each of intransitive (NOM), ergative (ERG), and accusative (ACC) case. The same tripartite distinction is clear in the pronominal system:

In the above examples, we see the first person singular pronoun taking different forms for each of the S, A, and O arguments (marked NOM, ERG and ABS respectively), indicating the tripartite alignment in pronominal morphology. Syntactic surveys of Wangkumara suggest this is generally true of the language as a whole. Hence, Wangkumara represents a case of a full tripartite alignment.

Mixed systems More common than full tripartite systems, mixed system tripartite alignments either demonstrate tripartite alignment in some subsection of the grammar, or else lacks the ergative, the accusative, or both in some classes of nominals. An example of the former kind of mixed system may be Yazghulami, which exhibits tripartite alignment but only in the past tense; Classical Armenian shows a similar distribution, with synthetic tenses following nominative-accusative alignment and analytic tenses exhibiting tripartite alignment. An example of the latter would be Nez Perce, which lacks ergative marking in the first and second person. The following examples from Nez Perce illustrate the intransitive-ergative-accusative opposition that holds in the third person:

In the above examples, (2a) demonstrates the intransitive case marking (here coded as NOM), while (2b) demonstrates differential ergative and accusative markings. Thus, Nez Perce demonstrates tripartite differentiations in its third person morphology. In Ainu, only first person inclusive and fourth person (first person plural exclusive / logographical / indefinite / etc.) display tripartite alignment as shown in the table.

Realizations of tripartite alignment

Morphological tripartite alignment

Syntactic tripartite alignment

Passive and anti-passive constructions Ainu also shows the passive voice formation typical of nominative-accusative languages and the antipassive of ergative-absolutive languages. Like Nez Perce, the use of both the passive and antipassive is a trait of a tripartite language.

See also Ergative–absolutive language Nominative–accusative language Split ergativity

References

Bibliography Blake, Barry J. (2001). Case. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nicole Kruspe, 2004. A Grammar of Semelai. Cambridge University Press. Nez Perce Verb Morphology Noel Rude, 1988. Ergative, passive, and antipassive in Nez Perce. In Passive and Voice, ed. M. Shibatani, 547–560. Amsterdam: John Benjamins

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tripartite alignment

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tripartite alignment claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tripartite alignment before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tripartite alignment ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tripartite alignment

In research: Tripartite alignment appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tripartite alignment in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tripartite alignment is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Linguistic typology, Transitivity and valency, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tripartite alignment outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tripartite alignment in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tripartite alignment means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tripartite alignment out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tripartite alignment in simple terms?

Why does Tripartite alignment matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tripartite alignment?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tripartite alignment.