Split ergativity is shown by languages that have a partly ergative behaviour, but employ another syntax or morphology—usually accusative—in some contexts. In fact, most of the so-called ergative languages are not pure but split-ergative.
Read more about Split Ergativity: Split Conditions, Examples
Famous quotes containing the word split:
“William James once said: “Progress is a terrible thing.” It is more than that: it is also a highly ambiguous notion. For who knows but that a little further on the way a bridge may not have collapsed or a crevice split the earth?”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)