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'Locative' (also called the ''seventh case'') is a 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.

Contents

The locative case in various languages

Indo-European languages

Russian

Turkic languages

Turkish

Uzbek

Finno-Ugric languages

Inari Sami

Hungarian

Etruscan

Notes

Bibliography

External links

The locative case in various languages

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.^[1] 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
The locative case is also used fairly commonly in Classical Latin to indicate a place "where" (we would prefix the place name with "at") as opposed to "to which" (we would prefix the name with "to"). (Walking "at Rome" is not the same as walking "to Rome".) The following table gives the usual locative case endings for the five declensions of Roman nouns:
singular plural
1 st declension . . . . . . . . ae is
2 nd . . . . . . . . i is
3 rd . . . . . . . . i, e ibus
4 th . . . . . . . . i
5 the . . . . . . . . e
.
( macrons on some of the i's and e's; not convenient in this font)
The first declension locative is far the most common, because so many Roman place names were 1 st 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, Brundisi; Eboracum, York; with locatives Brundisi, at Brundisium; Eboraci, at York, etc. Also the Latin "focus" ("hearth", used figuratively for any center of community attention, has a locative, "foci", " at the hearth".) Third, fourth, and fifth declension place names are few or none, but the locative of the 4th declension domus (home) is quite well known (domi, at home).

★ uncommon, archaic or literary use in certain modern Indian languages (such as Marathi in which a separate ablative case has however disappeared)

Russian

In the Russian language, the locative case is often and recently called the prepositional case. This is because the case is only used after a preposition and not always used for locations. Statements such as "в библиотеке" ''v biblioteke'' ("in library") or "на Аляске" ''na Aljaske'' ("in Alaska") show the usage for location. However, this case is also used after the preposition "о" ("about") as in "о студенте" ''o studente'' ("about the student").
Nevertheless a few words preserve a distinctive form of locative case: "лежать в снегу́" ''lezhatʲ v snegu'' (to lie in the snow), but "думать о снеге" ''dumatʲ o snege'' (to think about snow). Other examples are дом ''dom'' (house) - "на дому" ''na domu'', дым ''dɨm'' (smoke) - "в дыму́" ''v dɨmú'', бок ''bok'' (side) - "на боку́" ''na boku''. The stress marks here signify that the stress is made on the last syllable, unlike the dative case that has the same spelling.

Turkic languages

Some Turkic languages have a locative.

Turkish

The locative case exists in Turkish. For instance, in Turkish, ''elim'' means ''my hand'', and ''elimde'' means ''in my hand'', so using ''-de'' and ''-da'' suffixes, the locative case is marked. '-te'', ''-ta'' and ''-da'' are the variations, depending on the sound of the root they suffix. Ex: ''kentte'' (in the city).

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'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.

Etruscan

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

Notes

1. Buck, page 172

Bibliography

Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Buck, Carl Darling, , , The University of Chicago Press, ,

External links

★ Lokativ in Russian language (in Russian)