New phylogenetic study by Hong, Witzlack-Makarevich and Bickel confirms the agent preference in language change

Recent work by Hong, Witzlack-Makarevich and Bickel confirmed an earlier hypothesis that the preference for agents in language processing shapes the evolution of case-marking systems in language. At the same time the study disconfirms long-held beliefs about a referential scale determining case marking.

 

Tai Hong, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Balthasar Bickel, The evolutionary dynamics of ergative alignment of case marking, Journal of Language Evolution, Volume 11, 2026, lzag004, https://doi.org/10.1093/jole/lzag004