What is the function of ergative case marking? Does it have a semantic basis (Wierzbicka), does it merely discriminate subjects from objects (Anderson), or does it mark ``marked'' subjects and objects (Dixon, Silverstein)? --or does it map Subjects and Objects differentially into their semantic roles (Dixon, Manning)?
Dixon, R. M. W. 1979. Ergativity. Language 55:59-138.
*Dixon, R. M. W. 1994. Ergativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Anderson, Stephen R. 1976. On the notion of subject in ergative languages. Subject and Topic, ed. by in Charles N. Li, pp. 1-23. New York: Academic Press.
*Manning, Christopher (1996) Ergativity: Argument Structure and Grammatical Relations. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.
Wierzbicka, Anna. 1981. Case marking and human nature. Australian Journal of Linguistics 1.43-80.