Definition & Meaning of "nominative–absolutive alignment"

What is "nominative–absolutive alignment"?

Nominative-absolutive alignment is a grammatical system in which the subject of an intransitive verb is treated the same way as the object of a transitive verb, both being marked as "absolutive". In contrast, the subject of a transitive verb is marked differently, known as "nominative". This alignment type allows for a clear distinction between the roles of subjects and objects, facilitating the understanding of grammatical relationships in sentences. Nominative-absolutive alignment is less common than nominative-accusative alignment but can be found in some languages, contributing to the diversity of linguistic structures and the ways in which languages organize information.