English

Adjective

unaccusative ‎(not comparable)

1. (linguistics, of a verb) Intransitive and having an experiencer as its subject, that is, the (syntactic) subject is not a (semantic) agent.

Antonyms

• unergative
• transitive

Hyponyms

• intransitive

Related terms

• accusative

Noun

unaccusative ‎(plural unaccusatives)

1. (linguistics) An unaccusative verb.
   • 1998, Eloise Jelinek, Voice and Transitivity as Functional Projections in Yaqui, in Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds., “The Projection of Arguments”

     We have seen that Unergatives and Unaccusatives differ in 1) permitting the derivation of an Impersonal Passive, and 2) in licensing purpose clauses, since Unergatives have active subjects, and Unaccusatives do not.

Antonyms

• unergative

References

• “unaccusative verb” in the Lexicon of Linguistics (Utrecht institute of Linguistics)