[...] The ergative is a nuclear rather than a linear interpretation; and if this component is to the fore, there may be a whole cluster of participant-like functions in the clause: not only Agent but also Beneficiary and Range. These, seen from a transitive point of view, are circumstantial: Agent is a Kind of Manner, Beneficiary a kind of Cause and Range a kind of Extent; and they can all be expressed as minor processes. but from an ergative point of view they are additional participants in the major process: the nucleus of “Process + Medium” has an inner ring of additional participants as well as an outer ring of circumstances surrounding it.
- Halliday (1985), a pag.149