direct-inverse marking

noun

An inflectional category encoding the relative animacy of the agent and the patient of a transitive verb. If the patient has higher animacy of the two, this is expressed using the inverse form of the verb; otherwise, the verb appears in direct form.

Similar
inverse markingdirection markingdirect-inverse alignment
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Meanings

noundirect-inverse marking (uncountable)

alternative direct/inverse marking

  1. uncountablegrammarAn inflectional category encoding the relative animacy of the agent and the patient of a transitive verb. If the patient has higher animacy of the two, this is expressed using the inverse form of the verb; otherwise, the verb appears in direct form.

    Synonyms: inverse marking, direction marking, direct-inverse alignment

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn inflectional category encoding the relative animacy of the agent and the patient of a transitive verb. If the patient has higher animacy of the two, this is expressed using the inverse form of the verb; otherwise, the verb appears in direct form.

Similar
inverse markingdirection markingdirect-inverse alignment
Cite this entry
APA

direct-inverse marking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/direct-inverse%20marking

MLA

“direct-inverse marking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/direct-inverse%20marking. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “direct-inverse marking,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/direct-inverse%20marking.

Source: direct-inverse marking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.