[Lingtyp] Giver and recipient sharing the same marking, but the direct object is marked differently

[Spike Gildea]

In at least 3 Cariban languages, the ergative case-marker/postposition is derived historically from the dative, so the two are isomorphic. If you include subordinate clause constructions, I would guess that this syncretism occurs in at least 15 languages. Here is a quick examples from Wayana (Taveres 2005: 441):


                                  [Erg]         [Rec]

           Kahulu      tëkalëi           Avina ja     Pintutu ja.

           kahulu      t-ëkalë-he      avina ja     pintutu ja

           beads      T-give.O-He   Avina Erg  Pintutu Dat     

      ‘Avina gave the beads to Pintutu.’

Best,
Spike


From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of David Gil via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 1:59 AM
To: Pun Ho Lui <luiph001 at gmail.com>
Cc: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Giver and recipient sharing the same marking, but the direct object is marked differently

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Hi,

In Riau Indonesian, sama may optionally occur on either the agent or the recipient, though not the theme, of (unmarked) 'give'.  However, I've never observed it to occur on both agent and recipient in the same sentence.

David


Gil, David (2004) "Riau Indonesian sama, Explorations in Macrofunctionality", in M. Haspelmath ed., Coordinating Constructions, Typological Studies in Language 58, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 371-424.


On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 2:12 PM Pun Ho Lui via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto:lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>> wrote:
Dear linguists,

I am wondering if there is any case where in the ditransitive ‘give’ construction, the agent (giver) and recipient are marked by the same item, but the theme (or direct object) is marked differently, e.g.:

1SG-NOM give 2SG-NOM  pen
‘I gave you a pen.’

This pattern does not fit well in the conceptual space for core arguments (Croft 2001), so I expect it is not very common across languages.

Thank you.

Warmest,
Pun Ho Lui Joe


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--

David Gil

Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

Email: dapiiiiit at gmail.com<mailto:dapiiiiit at gmail.com>
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