In grammar, the locative case ( ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. In languages using it, the locative case may perform a function which in English would be expressed with such prepositions as "in", "on", "at", and "by". The locative case belongs to the general local cases, together with the lative case and ablative 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 endings are reconstructed as follows:
In most later Indo-European languages, the locative case merged into other cases (often Genitive case or Dative case) in form and/or function, but some daughter languages retained it as a distinct case. It is found in:
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modern Balto-Slavic languages, except Bulgarian and Macedonian, although it is mostly used with prepositions in the other Slavic languages
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some classical Indo-European languages, particularly Sanskrit and Old Latin
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(Mostly uncommon, archaic or literary) use in certain modern Indic languages (such as Bengali language and Marathi language—in which, however, a separate ablative case has disappeared)
Latin
Old Latin still had a functioning locative singular, which descended from the Proto-Indo-European form. The locative plural was already identical to the dative and ablative plural. In
Classical Latin, changes to the Old Latin diphthongs caused the originally-distinctive ending of the locative singular to become indistinguishable from the endings of some other cases.
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| Gradually replaced with the ablative. |
Because the locative was already identical to the ablative (which had a "location" meaning as well) in the plural, the loss of distinction between the endings eventually caused the functions of the locative case to be absorbed by the ablative case in Classical Latin. The original locative singular ending, descended from the Old Latin form, remained in use for a few words. For first and second declension, it was identical to the genitive singular form. In archaic times, the locative singular of third declension nouns was still interchangeable between ablative and dative forms, but in the Augustan Period the use of the ablative form became fixed. Therefore, both forms rūrī and rūre may be encountered.
The Latin locative case was only used for the names of cities, "small" islands and a few other isolated words. The Romans considered all Mediterranean islands to be small except for Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, and Cyprus. Roman Britain was also considered to be a "large island". There are a few 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), mīlitia becomes mīlitiae (in military service, in the field), and focus becomes focī (at the hearth; at the center of the community).
The first declension locative is by far the most common, because so many Roman place names were first declension, such as Roma, Rome, and therefore use the same form as the genitive and dative: Romae, at Rome, and Hiberniae, in Ireland. A few place-names were inherently plural, even though they are a single city, e.g. Athēnae, Athens and Cūmae, Cuma. These plural names also use the form similar to the dative and ablative: Athēnīs, at Athens, and Cūmīs, at Cumae. There are also a number of second declension names that could have locatives, e.g. Brundisium, Brindisi; Eborācum, York; with locatives Brundisiī, at Brindisi; Eborācī, at York. The locative cannot express being located at multiple locations; plural forms only exist because certain proper names such as Athēnae happen to be plural. "He is at home" can be expressed by "(is) domi est" using the locative, but "They are at their (individual and separate) homes" cannot be expressed by the locative.
Greek
In
Ancient Greek, the locative merged with the Proto-Indo-European dative, so that the Greek dative represents the Proto-Indo-European dative, instrumental, and locative. The dative with the preposition ἐν "in" and the dative of time (e.g., τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, , which means "on the third day") are examples of locative datives. Some early texts, in particular Homer, retain the locative in some words (for example ἠῶθεν, – at dawn,
Iliad 24.401).
Germanic languages
The locative case had merged with the dative in early Germanic times and was no longer distinct in Proto-Germanic or in any of its descendants. The dative, however, contrasts with the
accusative case, which is used to indicate motion toward a place (it has an
allative case meaning). The difference in meaning between dative and accusative exists in all of the old Germanic languages and survives in all Germanic languages that retain a distinction between the two cases.
Sanskrit
The locative case in
Sanskrit is usually known as the "seventh case" (saptami vibhakti). It is the last out of the main seven cases (vibkhatis) in the language. Along with "in", "on", "at", "or", and "by", the locative case is also generally used with "among" in Sanskrit.
Slavic languages
Among
Slavic languages, the locative is mostly used after a fixed set of commonly used prepositions. Besides location, Slavic languages also employ locative as a way of expressing the method of doing an action, time when the action is to take place, as well as the topic or theme that something describes in more detail; as such it is subordinate to other cases. The locative is kept in all Slavic languages (except for Bulgarian and Macedonian), although Russian split it (in the singular of a group of masculine nouns) into locative and prepositional, and
Serbo-Croatian uses almost the same set of endings (sometimes with different intonation) as for the
Dative case. The ending depends on whether the word is a noun or an adjective (among other factors).
Old Slavic
In Old Church Slavonic, the locative is mostly used with a preposition. Some uses of independent locatives remain, mostly in expressions of time, such as zimě "in winter", polu nošti "at midnight". The locative also occurs as the complement of a handful of verbs, such as kŭto prikosnǫ sę rizaxŭ moixŭ? "who touched my garments?". In Old East Slavic, moreover, place names are regularly used in the locative without a preposition.
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, , po revoluci, ). Cases other than the locative may be used to denote location in Czech as well (U Roberta, -genitive, or nad stolem, -instrumental).
The locative case (commonly called the 6th case) is the only one of the 7 Czech cases which cannot be used without a preposition. It is used with these prepositions:
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v (v místnosti = , v Praze = ). Using this preposition with the accusative case has a different meaning (v les = ) and is regarded as archaic
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na (na stole = , to záleží na tobě = ). The use of this preposition with the accusative case has a different meaning (na stůl = ).
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po (in different meanings: past, after, on, to, for, by). This preposition takes the accusative case in some meanings.
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při (by, nearby, with)
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o (about, of, on, for, at, during, by, with, over, against, using). This preposition with the accusative case has a different use and meaning (jedná se o to ≠ jedná se o tom).
If the preposition uses both accusative and locative case, the accusative is used for direction (where to) while locative for pure location (where). In case of the preposition o (about), this distinction can be very subtle and untranslatable, or depending on the controlling verb.
The locative form of substantives in the singular is mostly identical with the dative case (3rd case). Possible endings for locative case:
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-u (hard masculines: o pánu, hradu, hard neuters: městu)
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-i (soft masculines: o muži, stroji, soudci, some neuters: moři, some feminines: růži, písni, kosti)
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-ovi (animate masculines: o pánovi, mužovi, předsedovi, soudcovi)
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-e (o lese, o Mařce)
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-ě (na hradě, o ženě, o městě)
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-eti (o kuřeti, knížeti)
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-í (o stavení)
For adjectives and adjectival substantives:
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-ém (-ým or -ym in Common Czech) for hard masculine and neuter adjectives (o mladém, vo mladým, o vrátném)
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-m for soft masculine and neuter adjectives (o jarním, o průvodčím)
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-é (-ý or -ej in Common Czech) for hard feminine adjectives (o mladé, vo mladý, vo mladej)
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-í for soft feminine adjectives (o jarní)
The locative form in the plural typically has the ending -ch (o mladých ženách), the dual has ending -ou (v obou dvou případech, na rukou).
See Czech declension for declension patterns for all Czech grammatical cases, including the locative.
Slovak
The
Slovak language uses the locative case to denote location (na Slovensku, ), but as in the
Russian language, the locative case may be used after certain prepositions with meanings other than location (o Bratislave, , po revolúcii, ). Cases other than the locative may be used to denote location in Slovak as well (U Milana, -genitive, or nad stolom, -instrumental). A preposition must always be used with this case.
There are several different locative endings in Slovak:
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-e Used for singular nouns of all genders (except masculine animate), e.g. stôl → o stole, láska → v láske, mesto → po meste.
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-u Used for:
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Masculine inanimate singular nouns ending in a velar consonant, e.g. hliník → o hliníku, mozog → v mozgu, bok → na boku, vzduch → vo vzduchu, or a glottal consonant, e.g. hloh → po hlohu
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All neuter singular nouns ending in -kV, -chV, -iV, -uV (V being o or um), e.g. jablko → v jablku, ucho → na uchu, akvárium → pri akváriu, vákuum → vo vákuu
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-i Used for:
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Masculine inanimate nouns ending in a soft consonant ( c, č, ď, dz, dž, j, ľ, ň, š, ť, ž), e.g. ovládač ("remote") → o ovládači ("about the remote"), tŕň → v tŕni
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Feminine nouns ending in a soft consonant or a soft consonant followed by a, e.g. vôňa → o vôni, kosť ("bone") → o kosti ("about bone")
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Feminine nouns ending in -ia or -ea, e.g. Mária → na Márii, Andrea → v Andrei
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Neuter nouns ending in -e or -, e.g. srdce → pri srdci
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-í used for neuter nouns ending in -, e.g. vysvedčenie → na vysvedčení
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-ovi used for masculine animate nouns, e.g. chlap → o chlapovi, hrdina → po hrdinovi
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-om used for masculine and neuter singular adjectives: pekný/pekné → o peknom
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-ej used for feminine singular adjectives and feminine nouns ending in -á: pekná gazdiná → na peknej gazdinej
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-m used for masculine animate nouns following the kuli pattern (being most names in -i, -y etc.), e.g. Harry → o Harrym
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-och used for masculine nouns in plural, e.g. malí chlapi → o malých chlapoch
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-ách used for plural feminine and neuter nouns, e.g. ženy () → o ženách (). There are variations:
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-ach used when the preceding vowel is long or a diphthong ( ia, ie, iu, ô), e.g. lásky → v láskach, dielo → pri dielach
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-iach used after soft consonants, e.g. schopnosť → o schopnostiach, srdce → v srdciach
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-ích / -ých Used for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g. malé obchody () → v malých obchodoch (), with the variation:
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-ich / -ych when the preceding vowel is long: rýchle autá () → o rýchlych autách ()
See also Slovak declension for declension patterns for all Slovak grammatical cases, including locative.
Polish
There are several different locative endings in
Polish language:
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-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:
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brat → bracie
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rzeka → rzece
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noga → nodze
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rower → rowerze
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piekło → piekle
For a complete list, see .
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-u Used for:
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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
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All neuter singular nouns ending in -e, e.g. miejsce → miejscu, życie → życiu
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Some neuter singular nouns ending in -o, e.g. mleko → mleku, łóżko → łóżku, ucho → uchu
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-i Used for:
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Feminine nouns ending in -ia, e.g. Kasia () → o Kasi (), Austria → w Austrii ()
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Feminine nouns ending in -ść, e.g. miłość () → o miłości ()
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-im / -ym Used for masculine and neuter singular adjectives, e.g. język polski () → w języku polskim ()
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-ej Used for feminine singular adjectives, e.g. duża krowa () → o dużej krowie ()
In plural:
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-ach Used for plural nouns of all genders, e.g. kobiety () → o kobietach ()
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-ich / -ych Used for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g. małe sklepy () → w małych sklepach ()
Russian
In the Russian language, the locative case has largely lost its use as an independent case and become the prepositional case, which is used only after a
preposition. The latter is not always used to indicate location, while other cases may also be used to specify location (e.g. the genitive case, as in у окна, ("by the window")). Statements such as в библиотеке, ("in the library") or на Аляске, ("in
Alaska"), demonstrate the use of the prepositional case to indicate location. However, this case is also used after the preposition "о" ("about") as in о студенте, ("about the student").
Nevertheless, approximately retain a distinct form for the locative case, used only after "в" and "на". These forms end in "-у́" or "-ю́": лежать в снегу́, (to lie in the snow), but думать о сне́ге, (to think about snow). Other examples are рай, (paradise); "в раю́", дым, (smoke); and в дыму́, . As indicated by the accent marks, the stress is always on the last syllable, which is unlike the dative-case forms with the same spelling. A few feminine nouns that end with the soft sign, such as дверь and пыль, also have a locative form that differs from the prepositional in that the stress shifts to the final syllable: на двери́, ("on the door"), but при две́ри, ("by the door"). These distinct feminine forms are sometimes referenced as "second locative" or "new locative", because they developed independently from the true locative case, which existed in Old Russian.[ Everything you always wanted to know about Russian grammar but were afraid to ask , AATSEEL Newsletter, October 2007, pp. 7–8.]
With some words, such as дом, (house), the second locative form is used only in certain idiomatic expressions, while the prepositional is used elsewhere. For example, на дому́, ("at the house" or "at home") would be used to describe activity that is performed at home, while на до́ме ("on the house") would be used to specify the location of the roof.
Ukrainian
The Ukrainian language uses the locative case to denote locations. For example, "A pen is on a book" would be written as "" in the locative.
Ukrainian locative and instrumental cases usually go with a
preposition, unlike the other four cases in Ukrainian grammar, that may generally be employed without prepositions. The most common locative prepositions are , and ; usage of these four different variations of "in" depends on whether the next word starts with a
consonant or
vowel.
The locative is used to indicate static spatial relationships and to talk about thoughts, discussions and nuanced ideas.
Ukrainian, unlike Russian, still retains a fully functional locative case. However, during the Russification of Soviet Ukraine between the 1930s and the 1980s, several expressions in the Ukrainian language using the locative case, such as "", were changed by Soviet linguistic policies, in this instance to a genitive case to "", in order to conform to standard Russian "". On the other hand, post-Soviet users of Surzhyk may mistakenly be employing the locative Russian form, instead of the instrumental Ukrainian form, in a sentence like "The book is written in English":
Armenian
In the Eastern standard of the Armenian language non-animate nouns take -ում () for the locative. Animate nouns (referring to persons especially) do not take the locative.
Turkic languages
The Proto-Turkic language had a locative case, and most
Turkic languages have retained it.
Turkish
The locative case exists in
Turkish language, 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:
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-ta, as in kitapta, "in the book".
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-te, as in kentte, "in the city".
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-da, as in odada, "in the room".
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-de, as in evde, "in the house".
Azerbaijani
The locative case also exists in Azerbaijani. Similarly to Turkish, Azerbaijani employs a system of vowel harmony throughout the language. There are two simple Locative case endings:
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-da, as in kitabda, "in the book".
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-də, as in şəhərdə, "in the city".
Kazakh
The locative case also exists in
Kazakh language. Similarly to Turkish, Kazakh employs a system of vowel harmony throughout the language. There are four simple locative case endings:
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-та, as in кітапта, , "in the book".
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-те, as in сөздікте, , "in the dictionary".
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-да, as in қалада, , "in the city".
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-де, as in бөлмеде, , "in the room".
Furthermore, Kazakh nouns frequently utilize a possessive affix to indicate a relationship between the object and its owner. When forming the locative case of a noun in the presence of a possessive affix, there are two possible endings:
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-нда, as in Ерболдың қаласында, , "in Erbol's city".
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-нде, as in Ерболдың сөздігінде, , "in Erbol's dictionary".
Uyghur
The locative case exists in
Uyghur language, similarly to Turkish. This gives four different versions of the morpheme:
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-da, as in مەيداندا , "in the square".
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-de, as in ئۆيدە , "in the house".
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-ta, as in ئاپتاپتا , "in the sunshine".
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-te, as in دەرستە , "in the lesson".
Uzbek
The locative case exists also in
Uzbek language. For example, in Uzbek, shahar means 'city', and shahar
da means 'in the city', so using
-da suffix, the locative case is marked.
Uralic languages
Proto-Uralic has been reconstructed with a single "state" or "stationary" locative case, with the ending
*-na or
*-nä in accordance with
vowel harmony. In many of its descendants, additional locative cases were created by combining these endings with others.
Inari Sami
In Inari Sami, the locative suffix is -st.
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kielâ st, 'in the language'
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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
. It is no longer productive.
Examples:
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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)
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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.
Finnic languages
In the
Finnic languages, the original Proto-Uralic locative became the
essive case, but is still found with a locative meaning in some fossilised expressions such as Finnish
kotona "at home". Two new locative cases were created from the old locative:
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The inessive case referring to internal location (being inside), with the reconstructed Proto-Finnic ending *-ssa/ *-ssä (from earlier *-s-na/ *-s-nä).
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The adessive case referring to external location (being on, at), with the reconstructed Proto-Finnic ending *-lla/ *-llä (from earlier *-l-na/ *-l-nä).
These endings still survive as such in several Finnic languages including Finnish, but have been reduced to -s and -l in Estonian and some others.
The Finnic languages, like some Indo-European languages (Latin, Russian, Irish), do not normally use the verb to have to show possession. The adessive case and the verb to be is used instead, so that the combination literally means "on/at me is...". For example, I have a house 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.
Etruscan
The Etruscan language has a locative ending in -thi. E.g. velsnalthi, "at Velznani", with reference to
Volsinii.
Algonquian languages
Algonquian languages have a locative.
Cree
In
Cree language, the locative suffix is -ihk.
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misâskwatômin (Saskatoon berry) → misâskwatôminihk (at the Saskatoon berry) = "in Saskatoon, SK"
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misâskwatôminiskâ- (be many Saskatoon berries) → misâskwatôminiskâhk (at the place of many Saskatoon berries) = "in Saskatoon, SK"
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mînis (berry) → mînisihk (at the berry) = "in Saskatoon, SK"
Innu-aimun
In
Innu-aimun, the locative suffix is -(i)t.
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shipu (river) → shipit (at the river)
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katshishkutamatsheutshuap (school) → katshishkutamatsheutshuapit (at school)
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nuitsheuakan (my friend) → nuitsheuakanit (at my friend's house)
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nipi (water) → nipit (in the water)
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utenau (town) → utenat (in town)
Notes
Bibliography
External links
