Agentival

/ˌeɪdʒɛnˈtaɪvəl/ adjective

Definition

Relating to or of the nature of an agentive; describing grammatical roles that express agency or the actor in a sentence.

Etymology

From agentive + -al suffix; Latin agere (to act) + -ive (expressing) + -al (relating to).

Kelly Says

In linguistic analysis, 'agentival' describes a subtle grammatical distinction—in 'The door opened,' there's no agentival actor, but in 'John opened the door,' John is the agentival subject doing the action.

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