agentive
Marks the doer
Agentive describes the quality of being an agent—someone or something that acts or causes action.
In grammar, agentive refers to forms that indicate a doer: the suffix -er in "teacher" or "builder" is agentive, marking the person who performs the action.
More broadly, agentive suggests capacity for independent action: The AI displayed surprisingly agentive behavior.
One who portrays characters
- doerPerson who acts
- performerOne who entertains audiences
- executorAppointed estate manager
- initiatorOne who starts something
instigator · causer · effector · participant · subject · protagonist · mover · implementer
Smallest meaningful language unit
- derivationalCreating words via affixes
- suffixWord-ending addition
- affixWord-part modifier
- nominalizationConverting words to nouns
voice · transitivity · valency · argument · predicate · subject · actor · patient
Case marking sentence subjects
- accusativeCase for direct objects
- dativeCase showing indirect object
- genitiveCase expressing ownership
- instrumentalServing as means
locative · ablative · vocative · benefactive · distributive · possessive · morphological · declension
Done on purpose
- purposefulDone with intention
- deliberateConsciously chosen, not accidental
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
- self-directedManaging oneself without supervision
proactive · motivated · driven · willful · independent · self-determined · assertive · initiating
actor
One who portrays characters
initiator · instigator · causer · effector · participant · subject · protagonist · mover · implementer · perpetrator
morpheme
Smallest meaningful language unit
- derivationalCreating words via affixes
- suffixWord-ending addition
- affixWord-part modifier
nominalization · voice · transitivity · valency · argument · predicate · subject · actor · patient · syntax
nominative
Case marking sentence subjects
- accusativeCase for direct objects
- dativeCase showing indirect object
- genitiveCase expressing ownership
instrumental · locative · ablative · vocative · benefactive · distributive · possessive · morphological · declension · suffix
intentional
Done on purpose
- purposefulDone with intention
- deliberateConsciously chosen, not accidental
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
self-directed · proactive · motivated · driven · willful · independent · self-determined · assertive · initiating · goal-oriented
cause
What produces an effect
engender · precipitate · effectuate · elicit · stimulate · catalyze · produce · occasion · provoke · instigate