animacy
English
editEtymology
editNoun
editanimacy (usually uncountable, plural animacies)
- (linguistics) In some languages, the characteristic of a noun, dependent on its living or sentient nature, which affects grammatical features (it can modify verbs used with the noun, affect the noun's declension, etc.).
- (biology) The state of being alive.
- 2011, Seppo Kittilä, Katya Västi, Jussi Ylikoski, Case, Animacy and Semantic Roles[1], page 6:
- These may differ radically in their linguistic animacy, as briefly discussed above, without this having any consequences for their biological animacy.
Antonyms
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editquality of being animate
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