Lative case
Encyclopedia
Lative is a case
which indicates motion to a location. It corresponds to the English prepositions "to" and "into". The lative case belongs to the group of the general local cases together with the locative
and separative case. The term derives from the Latin lat-, the participle stem of ferre, "to bring".
The lative case is typical of the Uralic languages
and it was one of the Proto-Uralic cases. It still exists in many Uralic languages, e.g., Finnish
, Erzya
, Moksha
, and Meadow Mari.
It is also found in the Northeast Caucasian languages
, such as Tsez
, Bezhta
, and Khwarshi
.
In modern Finnish, it has been superseded by a more complicated system of locative cases and enclitics, when the original -s has merged with another lative or locative suffix, and turned into the modern inessive, elative, illative and even translative suffixes.
, the lative also takes up the functions of the dative case
in marking the recipient or beneficent of an action. By some linguists, they are still regarded as two separate cases in those languages, although the suffixes are exactly the same for both cases. Other linguists list them separately only for the purpose of separating syntactic cases from locative cases. An example with the ditransitive verb "show" (literally: "make see") is given below:
The dative/lative is also used to indicate possession, as in the example below, because there is no such verb as "to have".
The dative/lative case usually occurs, as in the examples above, in combination with another suffix as poss-lative case; this should not be regarded as a separate case, though, as many of the locative cases in Tsez are constructed analytically; hence, they are actually a combination of two case suffixes. See Tsez language#Locative case suffixes for further details.
Verbs of perception or emotion (like "see", "know", "love", "want") also require the logical subject to stand in the dative/lative case, note that in this example the "pure" dative/lative without its POSS-suffix is used.
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
which indicates motion to a location. It corresponds to the English prepositions "to" and "into". The lative case belongs to the group of the general local cases together with the locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
and separative case. The term derives from the Latin lat-, the participle stem of ferre, "to bring".
The lative case is typical of the Uralic languages
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
and it was one of the Proto-Uralic cases. It still exists in many Uralic languages, e.g., Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Erzya
Erzya language
The Erzya language is spoken by about 500,000 people in the northern and eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhniy Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in Russia...
, Moksha
Moksha language
The Moksha language is a member of the Finno-Volgaic subdivision of the Uralic languages with about 500,000 native speakers. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia....
, and Meadow Mari.
It is also found in the Northeast Caucasian languages
Northeast Caucasian languages
The Northeast Caucasian languages constitute a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, northern Azerbaijan, and in northeastern Georgia, as well as in diaspora populations in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East...
, such as Tsez
Tsez language
Tsez, also known as Dido is a Northeast Caucasian language with about 15,354 speakers spoken by the Tsez, a Muslim people in the mountainous Tsunta district of southern and western Dagestan in Russia. The name is said to derive from the Tsez word for "eagle", which is most likely a folk etymology...
, Bezhta
Bezhta language
The Bezhta language , also known as Kapucha , belongs to the Tsezic group of the North Caucasian language family...
, and Khwarshi
Khwarshi language
Khwarshi, also spelled Khvarshi, is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the Tsumadinsky-, Kizilyurtovsky- and Khasavyurtovsky districts of Dagestan by the Khwarshi people. The exact number of speakers is not known, but the linguist Zaira Khalilova, who has carried out fieldwork in the period...
.
Finnish
In Finnish, the lative case is largely obsolete. It still occurs in various adverbs, e.g., alas "down", kauemmas "(moving) farther off", pois "(going) away", and rannemmas "towards and closer to the shore". The lative suffix is usually -s.In modern Finnish, it has been superseded by a more complicated system of locative cases and enclitics, when the original -s has merged with another lative or locative suffix, and turned into the modern inessive, elative, illative and even translative suffixes.
Tsez
In the Northeast Caucasian languages, such as TsezTsez language
Tsez, also known as Dido is a Northeast Caucasian language with about 15,354 speakers spoken by the Tsez, a Muslim people in the mountainous Tsunta district of southern and western Dagestan in Russia. The name is said to derive from the Tsez word for "eagle", which is most likely a folk etymology...
, the lative also takes up the functions of the dative case
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
in marking the recipient or beneficent of an action. By some linguists, they are still regarded as two separate cases in those languages, although the suffixes are exactly the same for both cases. Other linguists list them separately only for the purpose of separating syntactic cases from locative cases. An example with the ditransitive verb "show" (literally: "make see") is given below:
| Кидбā ужихъор кIетIу биквархо. | |||
| kidb-ā | uži-qo-r | kʼetʼu | b-ikʷa-r-xo |
| girl:OBL-ERG Ergative case The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.-Characteristics:... |
boy-POSS-DAT/LAT | cat:[III] Grammatical gender Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be... :ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... |
III Grammatical gender Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be... -see-CAUS Causative In linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event.... -PRES Present tense The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb... |
| "The girl shows the cat to the boy." | |||
The dative/lative is also used to indicate possession, as in the example below, because there is no such verb as "to have".
| Кидбехъор кIетIу зовси. | ||
| kidbe-qo-r | kʼetʼu | zow-si |
| girl:OBL-POSS-DAT/LAT | cat:ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... |
be:PST-PST Past tense The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future... |
| "The girl had a cat." | ||
The dative/lative case usually occurs, as in the examples above, in combination with another suffix as poss-lative case; this should not be regarded as a separate case, though, as many of the locative cases in Tsez are constructed analytically; hence, they are actually a combination of two case suffixes. See Tsez language#Locative case suffixes for further details.
Verbs of perception or emotion (like "see", "know", "love", "want") also require the logical subject to stand in the dative/lative case, note that in this example the "pure" dative/lative without its POSS-suffix is used.
| ГIалир ПатIи йетих. | ||
| Patʼi | y-eti-x | |
| Ali-DAT/LAT | Fatima:[II] Grammatical gender Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be... :ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... |
II Grammatical gender Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be... -love-PRES Present tense The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb... |
| "Ali loves Fatima." | ||