Loss of ergativity in Eastern Indo-Aryan languages

What is it about?

This paper examines the historical loss of ergativity in Eastern Indo-Aryan (EIA) languages, particularly Assamese, Bangla, and Odia. It argues that early stages of these languages (as seen in Caryapada, an 8th–12th-century text) exhibited split ergativity, where past-tense constructions had ergative alignment. This ergative system was tied to a syntactic structure where the Voice head assigned the ergative case. However, modern EIA languages have transitioned to a nominative-accusative alignment. The paper argues that Eastern Indo-Aryan languages lost their ergativity due to the disappearance of the Voice head, which was responsible for assigning ergative case in past-tense contexts. This structural shift resulted in the modern nominative-accusative alignment seen in present-day Assamese, Bangla, and Odia.

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Why is it important?

It is broadly important in understanding Syntactic Change in Indo-Aryan Languages