On the relation between ergativity, stativity and the verbal configuration of Basque

Abstract

This paper shows that, in Basque, ergative case does not always correlate with agentivity and with the verbal category. Ergative subjects can be holders of verbal states, and, in some cases, subjects of non-verbal stative predicates. I argue that in non-verbal stative predicates, termed bare analytic predicates , the ergative argument is introduced by a head of central coincidence. It is proposed that this head is responsible for the spell out of a have auxiliary ( à la Kayne 1993) and is also related to the ergative marking of the subject. In the last sections, this analysis is generalized to verbal states and analytic eventive verbs headed by the - tu suffix, claiming that the ergative subject is always introduced by a head of central coincidence.

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