In some languages, the pattern of marking of verbal arguments (or verbs themselves) is sensitive to a grammatical scale that ranks argument noun phrases according to how natural they are in the role of agent; for example, a language might rank animate NPs as more natural agents than inanimate NPs. In such languages, transitive sentences in which the agent outranks the patient are marked differently from those in which the patient outranks the agent. Such sentences are said to differ in direction. Sentences where the agent outranks the patient are called direct, while sentences where the patient outranks the agent are called inverse. The difference between direct and inverse sentences may be marked by a different verb form, by different cases on the argument NPs, or both. Creating a direct-inverse scale here will make available, on the Lexicon page, argument structures for verbs that are sensitive to the scale, and also the direction feature for use in verbal inflection.

If your language shows the direct-inverse pattern, please describe the features that define the scale below. The scale entries should be entered in order from the highest (most agent-like) to the lowest (most patient-like).

When the agent and patient have the same scale value, the main verb is direct some other form
(The other form may be something like a reflexive. If you select "some other form", the resulting grammar will not parse sentences where the agent and patient are equally ranked. You will need to edit the starter grammar manually to add the other form.)