Transitivity

Transitivity is a category that indicates the number of objects a verb requires or takes in a given instance.

Natural language

In the UNLarium framework, transitivity may assume the following values:

{{#tree:id=nl_TRA|openlevels=0|root=Transitivity (TRA)|

• • intransitive (NTST): no object
    • unergative (NERG): the subject is the agent
    • unaccusative (NACC): the subject is not the agent
  • direct monotransitive (TST): one direct object
  • indirect monotransitive (ITST): one indirect object
  • ditransitive (DTST): one direct object and one indirect object
  • tritransitive (TTST): three objects
  • ambitransitive (ATST): both transitive and intransitive

}}

objects

Examples

• English
  • unergative (NERG) = run (John ran)
  • unaccusative (NACC) = fall (John fell)
  • direct monotransitive (TST) = kiss (John kissed Jane)
  • indirect monotransitive (ITST) = depend (John depend on Jane)
  • ditransitive (DTST) = give (John gave Jane an apple)
  • tritransitive (TTST) = trade (John traded Jane an apple for an orange)
  • ambitransitive (ATST) = eat (John ate or John ate an apple)

UNL

In UNL, transitivity, as a syntactic property, is not to be informed.