Direct case

Not to be confused with direct object.

In Indo-Aryan languages, and Eastern Iranian languages, the direct case (abbreviated dir) is the name given to a grammatical case used with all three core relations: the agent of transitive verbs, the patient of transitive verbs, and the argument of intransitive verbs. Such a case may also be called the nominative case, but some linguists reserve that term for cases that cover other roles or combinations of roles.

In languages of the Philippines and related languages with Austronesian alignment, the direct case, also called the absolutive, is the case of the argument of an intransitive clause, and may be used for either argument (agent or patient) of a transitive clause, depending on the voice of the verb. The other argument of a transitive clause may either be ergative or accusative, or in Tagalog a single case called indirect.

References

• Blake, Barry J. (2001) [1994]. Case (Second edition ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 199. http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521807611.