One which has two basic intransitive constructions. In the first the noun is identified by its case or otherwise with the agent in a transitive construction: this might be so, in particular, when it is itself notionally an agent. In the second it is identified with the patient in a transitive construction. Thus, in the transitive, the agent and patient might be marked as nominative vs. accusative: schematically, Mary-nom kissed Sarah-acc ‘Mary kissed Sarah’. An intransitive would then have variously the nominative or the accusative: e.g.Mary-nom left, where Mary is an agent or is relatively animate in terms of an animacy hierarchy, but The tree-acc fell, where the tree is not an agent or is minimally animate.
Also called ‘split intransitive’. Distinguished from an ergative language, in which the noun in the intransitive is identified throughout with a patient in the transitive construction, and an accusative language, in which it is identified throughout with an agent.
