This parameter considers the grammatical features for which the verb can show agreement with the patient (P, object of a transitive verb).[1] Agreement of the verb with the patient is known as objective conjugation or object-dependent conjugation. Example sentences should be considered in which the patient appears as a noun or pronoun.
Types:
NoPatM: Transitive verbs do not show agreement with the patient.[2]
Pat: The conjugation of transitive verbs indicates only that they have an explicit or implicit patient (i.e., the verb is not intransitive or medial).[3]
PatP: Transitive verbs show person agreement with the patient.[4]
PatNum: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of number (e.g., singular, plural).[5]
PatDet: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of definiteness.
PatSem: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of some semantic feature.[6]
PatClass: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of grammatical class or gender.
PatElse: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of some other (or uncleared) grammatical criterion.[7]
When a language displays more than one type, multiple values can be listed. If one type is dominant, a slash (/) can separate the two values, with the dominant value appearing first; if neither is dominant, they are listed with an ampersand (&) separating the two. Simultaneous use of multiple types is listed with a plus sign (+) between the values. (For example, if the verb shows agreement with the patient in terms of both definiteness and person, the parameter value of the language would be PatDet+PatP.) In some cases, a given type of marking depends on some other feature of the patient; this is expressed through the use of square brackets, with the prerequisite enclosed in the brackets. (For example, PatNum[PatDet] describes a language that only shows agreement with the patient in terms of number if the patient is definite.)
[1] This does not necessarily mean that the criteria for objective conjugation are exhaustively met. For example, a language may mark the grammatical gender of the patient on the verb, but only if the patient is animate or definite. Such cases are marked with the use of square brackets; the value PatDet[PatClass], for example, indicates that the verb shows agreement with the patient in terms of definiteness, but only if the latter belongs to a specific class (for example, a given grammatical gender). All such cases should be detailed in the commentary.
[2] If this value applies, the value for the parameter Order of person markers on the verb must be NoPM or NoP, and the value for the parameter Person marking of the patient on the verb must be NoPatPM.
[3] Although any other form of verbal agreement with the patient also indicates by default that the verb is not intransitive or medial, languages of the Pat type are distinct in that they do not show agreement with any further grammatical features of the patient.
[4] Number agreement and person agreement can only be analyzed separately if the language uses an analytic strategy to mark these features. In such languages, person and number are marked with distinct morphemes (for example, the second-person plural pronoun can be divided into a morpheme indicating ‘you’ and a morpheme indicating ‘plural’). Otherwise, only person agreement should be identified.
[5] This type can be identified by examining sentences in which the patient appears as a noun.
[6] This includes the animacy hierarchy.
[7] This criterion should be detailed in the commentary. This parameter refers strictly to grammatical criteria, not pragmatic factors affecting the use of objective conjugation. The latter do not constitute a typological distinction.