Degrees of volition

Degrees of volition are a category of the noun that is expressed by various subject cases or other formal means in some languages, such as Tokana and the Albic languages. (There may be natlangs with degree-of-volition marking, but I know of none.)

In Old Albic, the degree of volition of an agent is marked by the case the agent appears in. If the agent acts out of its own volition, it is in the agentive case. This is the unmarked degree. If it acts accidentally, it is in the dative case. If its action is the result of an external force, it is in the instrumental case, and the verb does not carry an agent agreement marker. The latter is the only degree of volition possible with an inanimate ‘agent’. With verbs of perception, dative case marks cursory perception, and agentive case marks deliberate observation. Some examples:

(1a)	Ibretara o ndero am phath.
	AOR-break-3SG:P-3SG:A M-AGT man-AGT I-OBJ knife-OBJ

(1b)	Ibretara ona nderona am phath.
	AOR-break-3SG:P-3SG:A M-DAT man-DAT I-OBJ knife-OBJ

(1c)	Ibreta ømi nderømi am phath.
	AOR-break-3SG:P M-INST man-INST I-OBJ knife-OBJ

All three sentences can be translated as ‘The man broke the knife’, but (1b) emphasizes that the man did not mean to break the knife, but broke it accidentally, and (1c) that he was forced to break the knife.

The same kind of degree-of-volition marking applies to agentive intransitives.

See also fluid-S.