Locative case 2010 Locative case Images

Locative''' (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by". The locative case belongs to the general local cases together with the lative and separative case. The locative case exists in many language groups.

Indo-European languages

The Proto-Indo-European language had a locative case expressing "place where", an adverbial function. The ending depended on the last vowel of the stem (consonant, a-, o-, i-, u-stems) and the number (singular or plural). Subsequently the locative case tended to merge with other cases: the genitive or dative. Some daughter languages retained it as a distinct case. The locative case is found in:
modern Balto-Slavic languages (see however prepositional case)
some classical Indo-European languages, particularly Sanskrit and Old Latin
uncommon, archaic or literary use in certain modern Indian languages (such as Marathi in which a separate ablative case has however disappeared)

Latin

The Latin locative case is extremely marginal, applying only to the names of cities and small islands and to a few other isolated words. The Romans considered all islands to be "small" except for Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, and Cyprus. Much of the case's function had been absorbed into the ablative. For singular first and second declension, the locative is identical to the genitive singular form, and for the singular third declension the locative is identical to the ablative singular form. For plural nouns of all declensions, the locative is also identical to the ablative form. The few fourth and fifth declension place-name words would also use the ablative form for locative case. However, there are a few rare nouns that use the locative instead of a preposition: ''domus'' becomes ''domī'' (at home), ''rūs'' becomes ''rūrī'' (in the country), ''humus'' becomes ''humī'' (on the ground), ''militia'' becomes ''militiae'' (in military service, in the field), and ''focus'' becomes ''focī'' (at the hearth; at the center of the community). In archaic times, the locative singular of third declension nouns was actually interchangeable between ablative and dative forms, but in the Augustan Period the use of the ablative form became fixed. The first declension locative is by far the most common, because so many Roman place names were first declension: mostly singular (''Roma'', Rome; ''Hibernia'', Ireland; etc., and therefore ''Romae'', at Rome; ''Hiberniae'', at Ireland), but some plural (''Athenae'', Athens; ''Cumae'', Cuma etc., with ''Athenis'', at Athens; ''Cumis'', at Cumae). But there are a number of second declension names that would have locatives, too (''Brundisium'', Brindisi; ''Eboracum'', York; with locatives ''Brundisiī'', at Brindisi; ''Eboraci'', at York, etc.) Note that the locative is used to indicate a place "where" (we would prefix the place name with "at" or "in") as opposed to "to which" (we would prefix the name with "to"). Walking "in Rome" is not the same as walking "to Rome". Strictly speaking, the constructions "Place to Which" and "Place from Which" are not "locative", but because they also deal with location, and apply to place-names (including the same special nouns like "domus") these constructions are usually grouped with the locative (cf. ''Wheelock's Latin'' Chapter 37). "Place from Which" uses ablative forms, thus "Roma" = from Rome. "Place to Which" uses accusative forms, thus "Romam" = to Rome. Therefore the phrase "Romani ite domum", translated as "Romans go (to) home!", may loosely speaking be said to take the "locative", but technically it is using the related "Place to Which" construction: in either construction the key point is that "domus" does not need to use a preposition, thus "ad domum" is grossly incorrect.

Slavic languages

Unusual in other Indo-European branches but common among Slavic languages, the ending depends on whether the word is a noun or an adjective (among other factors). =

Czech

= The Czech language uses the locative case to denote location (''v České Republice/in the Czech Republic''), but as in the Russian language, the locative case may be used after certain prepositions with meanings other than location (''o Praze/about Prague, po revoluci/after the revolution''). Cases other than the locative may be used to denote location in Czech as well (''U Roberta/at Robert's house'' -genitive, or ''nad stolem/above the table'' -instrumental). See Czech declension for declension patterns for all Czech grammatical cases, including locative. =

Polish

= There are several different locative endings in Polish:
-ie Used for singular nouns of all genders, e.g. ''niebo → niebie''. In a few cases, the softening indicated by ''i'' has led to consonant alternations:
* ''brat → bracie''
* ''rzeka → rzece''
* ''noga → nodze''
* ''rower → rowerze''
* ''piekło → piekle'' For a complete list, see Polish hard and soft consonants.
-u Used for:
* Some masculine singular nouns, e.g. ''syn → synu, dom → domu, bok → boku, brzuch → brzuchu, worek → worku*, nastrój → nastroju*, deszcz → deszczu, miś → misiu, koń → koniu, Poznań → Poznaniu, Wrocław → Wrocławiu, Bytom → Bytomiu**'' [* In a few cases, a vowel change may occur, e.g. ó → o, or a vowel may be dropped. ** Final consonants in Wrocław and Bytom used to be soft, which is still reflected in suffixed forms, hence -i-.]
* All neuter singular nouns ending in ''-e'', e.g. ''miejsce → miejscu, życie → życiu''
* Some neuter singular nouns ending in ''-o'', e.g. ''mleko → mleku, łóżko → łóżku, ucho → uchu''
-i Used for:
* Feminine nouns ending in ''-ia'', e.g. ''Kasia'' ("Katie") → ''o Kasi'' ("about Katie"), ''Austria → w Austrii'' ("in Austria")
* Feminine nouns ending in ''-ść'', e.g. ''miłość'' ("love") → ''o miłości'' ("about love")
-ach Used for plural nouns of all genders, e.g. ''kobiety'' ("women") → ''o kobietach'' ("about women")
-ich / -ych Used for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g. ''małe sklepy'' ("small shops") → ''w małych sklepach'' ("in small shops")
-im / -ym Used for masculine and neuter singular adjectives, e.g. ''polski język'' ("Polish language") → ''w polskim języku'' ("in the Polish language")
-ej Used for feminine singular adjectives, e.g. ''duża krowa'' ("big cow") → ''o dużej krowie'' ("about a big cow") =

Russian

= In the Russian language, the locative case has been largely superseded by the prepositional case. This case is used only after a preposition and not always to indicate location, while other cases can also be used to specify a location, e.g. the genitive case as in ''у окна́'' ("by the window"). Statements such as "в библиотеке" ''v biblioteke'' ("in the library") or "на Аляске" ''na Alyaske'' ("in Alaska") demonstrate the usage to indicate location. However, this case is also used after the preposition "о" ("about") as in "о студенте" ''o studente'' ("about the student"). Nevertheless a number of masculine nouns (150 or so) preserve a distinct form for the locative case, used only after "в" and "на". These typically end in "-у́" or "-ю́" (or in the case where the nominative ends with the soft sign, "-и́"): "лежать в снегу́" ''lezhat v snegu'' (to lie in the snow), but "думать о снеге" ''dumat o snege'' (to think about snow). Other examples are рай ''ray'' (paradise) - "в раю́", дым ''dym'' (smoke) - "в дыму́" ''v dymú'', дверь ''dver'' (door) - "на двери́" ''na dveri''. (As indicated here by the accent marks, the stress is always on the last syllable, unlike the dative case forms with the same spelling.) This form is sometimes referred to as "second locative". With some words, such as дом ''dom'' (house), the second locative form is used only in certain idiomatic expressions while the prepositional is used elsewhere. For example, "на дому" ''na domu'' ("at the house" or "at home") would be used to describe activity performed at home, while "на доме" ("on the house") would be used to specify the location of the roof.

Armenian

In the Armenian language nouns take -ում (-um) for the locative form.
համալսարանը (''hamalsaranə'', the university) → համալսարան ում'''ը (''hamalsaran'''um ə'', in/at the university)
ճաշարան (''chasharan'', a restaurant) → ճաշարան ում''' (''chasharan'''um'' , in/at a restaurant)

Turkic languages

Some Turkic languages have a locative. =

Turkish

= The locative case exists in Turkish, as the suffix generally specified by "-DA". For instance, in Turkish, ''okul'' means ''the school'', and ''okulda'' means ''in the school''. The morpheme may exist in four different forms, depending on the preceding consonant and vowel. The first phoneme of the locative, "D", changes according to the previous consonant: it is "t" after voiceless consonants, but "d" elsewhere. The vowel changes depending on the phonetic characteristics of the previous vowel: it is "a" after a preceding back vowel, and "e" after a preceding front vowel, congruent with the vowel harmony of the language. This gives four different versions of the morpheme:
-ta, as in "kitapta", "in the book".
-te, as in "kentte", "in the city".
-da, as in "odada", "in the room".
-de, as in "evde", "in the house". =

Uzbek

= The locative case exists also in Uzbek. For example, in Uzbek, ''shakhar'' means ''city'', and ''shakhar da'' means ''in the city'', so using ''-da'' suffix, the locative case is marked.

Finno-Ugric languages

Some Finno-Ugric languages have a locative. =

Inari Sami

= In Inari Sami, the locative suffix is -st.
kyelee st 'in the language'
kieđa st 'in the hand'. =

Hungarian

= In the Hungarian language, nine such cases exist, yet the name locative case refers to a form ''(-t/-tt)'' used only in a few city/town names along with the inessive case or superessive case. It can also be observed in a few local adverbs and postpositions. It is no longer productive. Examples:
''Győr|Győr ött''''' (also ''Győr'''ben'''''), ''Pécs'''ett''''' (also ''Pécs'''en'''''), ''Vác'''ott''''' (also ''Vác'''on'''''), ''Kaposvár'''t''''' and ''Kaposvár'''ott''''' (also ''Kaposvár'''on'''''), ''Vásárhely'''t''''' (also ''Vásárhely'''en'' )
''i tt''''' (here), ''o'''tt''''' (there), ''imi'''tt''''', ''amo'''tt''''' (there yonder), ''ala'''tt''''' (under), ''fölö'''tt''''' (over), ''közö'''tt''''' (between/among), ''mögö'''tt'' (behind) etc. The town/city name suffixes ''-ban/-ben'' are the inessive ones, and the ''-on/-en/-ön'' are the superessive ones. =

Estonian

= The Estonian language has a set of 6 locative cases, 3 interior and 3 exterior ones. They are formed by adding a suffix to the genitive form of the noun. The interior locative cases are:
Illative - ''maja sse'' 'into a/the house', or the irregular short form ''majja'' which is used mostly
Inessive - ''maja s'' 'in a/the house'
Elative - ''maja st'' 'from inside a/the house' The exterior locative cases are:
Allative - ''maja le'' '(on)to a/the house'
Adessive - ''maja l'' 'on (top of) a/the house' or 'at a/the house'
Ablative - ''maja lt'' 'from a/the house' (http://www.einst.ee/publications/language/cases.html) All nouns have a regular version of all these 6 cases, but many words have a more commonly used irregular short version for the illative case which, instead of adding a ''sse'' suffix to the genitive, change their stress/phoneme length without adding an extra syllable for the suffix. Estonian, like some Indo-European languages (Latin, Russian, Irish), does not normally use the verb ''to have'' to show possession. The adessive case and the verb ''to be'' is used instead. For example, ''I have a car'' in Estonian would be ''Mul on maja'' in which ''mul'' is in the adessive case, ''on'' is the third singular of ''to be'' (''is''), and ''maja'' is in nominative, not accusative. So ''maja'' is the subject, ''on'' is the verb and ''mul'' is the indirect object. This could be translated to English as ''At me is a house'' or ''A house is at me'' or ''There is a house at me''. For this reason, it has been argued that the Estonian adessive case is really a dative one. Statistically, the majority of the occurrences of the exterior locative cases show possession, not location (also ''Ta andis mulle''' maja'' 'He gave '''(to) me''' a house', ''Ta võttis '''minult''' mu maja'' 'He took '''from me my house'). (http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/21802/1/jaas046011.pdf)

Etruscan

The Etruscan language has a locative ending in -thi: velsnalthi, "at Velznani", with reference to Volsinii.

Algonquian languages

Algonquian languages have a locative. =

Cree

= In Cree, the locative suffix is -ihk.
* ''misâskwatômin (Saskatoon berry) → misâskwatôminihk (at the Saskatoon berry)'' = "[in] Saskatoon, SK"
* ''misâskwatôminiskâ- (be many Saskatoon berries) → misâskwatôminiskâhk (at the place of many Saskatoon berries)'' = "[in] Saskatoon, SK"
* ''mînis (berry) → mînisihk (at the berry)'' = "[in] Saskatoon, SK" =

Innu-aimun

= In Innu-aimun, the locative suffix is -(i)t.
* ''shipu (river) → shipit (at the river)''
* ''katshishkutamatsheutshuap (school) → katshishkutamatsheutshuapit (at school)''
* ''nuitsheuakan (my friend) → nuitsheuakanit (at my friend's house)''
* ''nipi (water) → nipit (in the water)''
* ''utenau (town) → utenat (in town)''

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Locative in the Russian language (in Russian)

fonte: Wikipedia