In the course of the first period of New Indo-Aryan, the general mechanism which lead to case syncretism in nominal declension has resulted in the attrition of the main characteristic of the Indo-Aryan ergative-absolutive alignment system, that is to say the distinction between intransitive and transitive ‘subject’ in past construc-tions. The aim of the lecture is to show, on the one hand, the eliminative forces in the history of the ergative construction throughout the New Indo-Aryan period, as testi-fied by Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. On the other hand, particular attention will be paid to contemporary Western New Indo-Aryan languages where the conservative tendencies of the original ergative-absolutive system are attested, especially through its preservation or its restoration by means of the introduction and gradual extension of a new ergative case-marker. 

Dieser Vortrag findet im Rahmen des Erasmus+-Abkommens zwischen dem Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde und dem Dipartimento di Studi sull'Asia e sull'Africa Mediterranea statt.