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In grammar, a language in which transitive verbs show a distinction between primary and secondary objects, rather than between direct and indirect objects.
Ditransitive verbs have two objects: a patient that undegoes the action and a recipient or beneficiary that receives the patient (see thematic role). In a dechticaetiative language, the recipients of ditransitive verbs are treated in the same way as the single objects of monotransitive verbs, and both roles are called primary objects. The patients of ditransitive verbs are considered their own category and called secondary objects.
In dechticaetiative languages with passive constructions, passivisation promotes the primary object to subject.
Most dechticaetiative languages are found in Africa, but some claim that English contains dechticaetiative constructions. For example, the passive of the sentence "John gave Mary the ball" is "Mary was given the ball by John", in which the recipient rather than the patient is promoted to subject.
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