Locative case

Ingrammar,thelocative case(/ˈlɒkətɪv/LOK-ə-tiv;abbreviatedLOC) is agrammatical casewhich 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 thelativeandseparative case.

The locative case exists in many language groups.

Indo-European languages

TheProto-Indo-European languagehad a locative case expressing "place where", an adverbial function. The endings are reconstructed as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Athematic	*-i,*-Ø(no ending)	*-su
Thematic	*-e(y),*-oy	*-oysu

In most later Indo-European languages, the locative case merged into other cases (oftengenitiveordative) in form and/or function, but some daughter languages retained it as a distinct case. It is found in:

• modernBalto-Slavic languages,exceptBulgarianandMacedonian,although it is mostlyused with prepositions in the otherSlavic languages
• some classicalIndo-European languages,particularlySanskritandOld Latin
• (Mostly uncommon, archaic or literary) use in certain modernIndiclanguages (such asBanglaandMarathi—in which, however, a separateablative casehas disappeared)

Latin

Old Latinstill 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. InClassical 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.

Declension	Old Latin	Classical Latin	Merger
1st	-āi	-ae	Merged with dative/genitive.
2nd	-ei	-ī	Merged with genitive.
3rd	-ei, -e	-ī, -e	Originally like the dative, but gradually replaced with the ablative.
4th	-ī, -ibus, -ubus		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 seconddeclension,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 forSicily,Sardinia,Corsica,Crete,andCyprus.Britanniawas also considered to be a "large island". There are a few nouns that use the locative instead of a preposition:domusbecomesdomī(at home),rūsbecomesrūrī(in the country),humusbecomeshumī(on the ground),militiabecomesmilitiae(in military service, in the field), andfocusbecomesfocī(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 asRoma,Rome, and therefore use the same form as the genitive and dative:Romae,at Rome, andHiberniae,inIreland.A few place-names were inherently plural, even though they are a single city, e.g.Athēnae,AthensandCūmae,Cuma. These plural names also use the form similar to the dative and ablative:Athēnīs,at Athens, andCūmīs,at Cumae. There are also a number of second declension names that could have locatives, e.g.Brundisium,Brindisi;Eborācum,York;with locativesBrundisiī,at Brindisi;Eborācī,at York. The locative cannot express being located at multiple locations; plural forms only exist because certain proper names such asAthēnaehappen 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

InAncient Greek,the locative merged with theProto-Indo-Europeandative, so that the Greek dative represents the Proto-Indo-European dative,instrumental,and locative. The dative with the preposition ἐνen"in" and the dative of time (e.g.,τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ,tēî trítēi hēmérāi,which means "on the third day" ) are examples of locative datives. Some early texts, in particular Homer, retain the locative in some words (for exampleἠῶθεν,ēôthen– at dawn,Iliad24.401).

Germanic languages

The locative case had merged with the dative in early Germanic times and was no longer distinct inProto-Germanicor in any of its descendants. The dative, however, contrasts with theaccusative case,which is used to indicate motion toward a place (it has anallativemeaning). 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

AmongSlavic 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 andprepositional,andSerbo-Croatianuses almost the same set of endings (sometimes with different intonation) as for thedative.The ending depends on whether the word is a noun or an adjective (among other factors).

Old Slavic

InOld Church Slavonic,the locative is mostly used with a preposition. Some uses of independent locatives remain, mostly in expressions of time, such aszimě"in winter",polu nošti"at midnight". The locative also occurs as the complement of a handful of verbs, such askŭto prikosnǫ sę rizaxŭ moixŭ?"who touched my garments?". InOld East Slavic,moreover, place names are regularly used in the locative without a preposition.

Czech

TheCzech languageuses the locative case to denote location (v České republice,'in the Czech Republic'), but as in theRussian 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, ornad stolem,'above the table' -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:

• v(v místnosti= in the room,v Praze= in Prague). Using this preposition with the accusative case has a different meaning (v les= to the forest) and is regarded as archaic
• na(na stole= on the desk,to záleží na tobě= it depends on you). The use of this preposition with the accusative case has a different meaning (na stůl= to the desk).
• po(in different meanings: past, after, on, to, for, by). This preposition takes the accusative case in some meanings.
• při(by, nearby, with)
• 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 prepositiono(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:

• -u (hard masculines:o pánu, hradu,hard neuters:městu)
• -i (soft masculines:o muži, stroji, soudci,some neuters:moři,some feminines:růži, písni, kosti)
• -ovi (animate masculines:o pánovi, mužovi, předsedovi, soudcovi)
• -e (o lese, o Mařce)
• -ě (na hradě, o ženě, o městě)
• -eti (o kuřeti, knížeti)
• -í (o stavení)

For adjectives and adjectival substantives:

• -ém (-ým or -ym in Common Czech) for hard masculine and neuter adjectives (o mladém, vo mladým, o vrátném)
• -m for soft masculine and neuter adjectives (o jarním, o průvodčím)
• -é (-ý or -ej in Common Czech) for hard feminine adjectives (o mladé, vo mladý, vo mladej)
• -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).

SeeCzech declensionfor declension patterns for all Czech grammatical cases, including the locative.

Slovak

TheSlovak languageuses the locative case to denote location (na Slovensku,'in Slovakia'), but as in theRussian language,the locative case may be used after certain prepositions with meanings other than location (o Bratislave,'about Bratislava,po revolúcii,'after the revolution'). Cases other than the locative may be used to denote location in Slovak as well (U Milana,'at Milan's house' -genitive, ornad stolom,'above the table' -instrumental). A preposition must always be used with this case.

There are several different locative endings in Slovak:

• -eUsed for singular nouns of all genders (except masculine animate), e.g.stôl → o stole, láska → v láske, mesto → po meste.
• -uUsed for:
  • Masculine inanimate singular nouns ending in avelar consonant,e.g.hliník → o hliníku, mozog → v mozgu, bok → na boku, vzduch → vo vzduchu,or aglottal consonant,e.g.hloh → po hlohu
  • All neuter singular nouns ending in-kV, -chV, -iV, -uV(V beingoorum), e.g.jablko → v jablku, ucho → na uchu, akvárium → pri akváriu, vákuum → vo vákuu
• -iUsed for:
  • 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
  • Feminine nouns ending in a soft consonant or a soft consonant followed bya,e.g.vôňa → o vôni,kosť( "bone" ) →o kosti( "about bone" )
  • Feminine nouns ending in -ia or -ea, e.g.Mária → na Márii, Andrea → v Andrei
  • Neuter nouns ending in -e or -ie, e.g.srdce → pri srdci
• -íused for neuter nouns ending in -ie, e.g.vysvedčenie → na vysvedčení
• -oviused for masculine animate nouns, e.g.chlap → o chlapovi, hrdina → po hrdinovi
• -omused for masculine and neuter singular adjectives:pekný/pekné → o peknom
• -ejused for feminine singular adjectives and feminine nouns ending in -á:pekná gazdiná → na peknej gazdinej
• -mused for masculine animate nouns following the kuli pattern (being most names in -i, -y etc.), e.g.Harry → o Harrym
• -ochused for masculine nouns in plural, e.g.malí chlapi → o malých chlapoch
• -áchused for plural feminine and neuter nouns, e.g.ženy( "women" ) →o ženách( "about women" ). There are variations:
  • -achused when the preceding vowel is long or a diphthong (ia, ie, iu, ô), e.g.lásky → v láskach, dielo → pri dielach
  • -iachused after soft consonants, e.g.schopnosť → o schopnostiach, srdce → v srdciach
• -ích / -ýchUsed for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g.malé obchody( "small shops" ) →v malých obchodoch( "in small shops" ), with the variation:
  • -ich / -ychwhen the preceding vowel is long:rýchle autá( "fast cars" ) →o rýchlych autách( "about fast cars" )

See alsoSlovak declensionfor declension patterns for all Slovak grammatical cases, including locative.

Polish

There are several different locative endings inPolish:

• -ieUsed for singular nouns of all genders, e.g.niebo → niebie.In a few cases, the softening indicated byihas led to consonant alternations:
  • brat → bracie
  • rzeka → rzece
  • noga → nodze
  • rower → rowerze
  • piekło → piekle

For a complete list, seePolish hard and soft consonants.

• -uUsed 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
• -iUsed 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" )
• -im / -ymUsed for masculine and neuter singular adjectives, e.g.język polski( "Polish language" ) →w języku polskim( "in the Polish language" )
• -ejUsed for feminine singular adjectives, e.g.duża krowa( "big cow" ) →o dużej krowie( "about a big cow" )

In plural:

• -achUsed for plural nouns of all genders, e.g.kobiety( "women" ) →o kobietach( "about women" )
• -ich / -ychUsed for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g.małe sklepy( "small shops" ) →w małych sklepach( "in small shops" )

Russian

In the Russian language, the locative case has largely lost its use as an independent case and become theprepositional case,which is used only after apreposition.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 inу окна́( "by the window" )). Statements such asв библиотеке,v biblioteke( "in the library" ) orна Аляске,na Aljaske( "inAlaska"), demonstrate the use of the prepositional case to indicate location. However, this case is also used after the preposition" о "(" about ") as inо студенте,o studente( "about the student" ).

Nevertheless, approximately150 masculine nounsretain a distinct form for the locative case, used only after "в" and "на". These forms end in "-у́" or "-ю́":лежать в снегу́,ležať v snegú(to lie in the snow), butдумать о сне́ге,dumať o snége(to think about snow). Other examples areрай,raj(paradise); "в раю́",дым,dym(smoke); andв дыму́,v dymú.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 thesoft 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,na dverí( "on the door" ), butпри две́ри,pri dvéri( "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.

With some words, such asдом,dom(house), the second locative form is used only in certain idiomatic expressions, while the prepositional is used elsewhere. For example,на дому́,na domu( "at the house" or "at home" ) would be used to describe activity that is performed at home, whileна до́ме( "on the house" ) would be used to specify the location of the roof.

Armenian

In the Eastern standard of theArmenian languagenon-animate nouns take-ում(-um) for the locative. Animate nouns (referring to persons especially) do not take the locative.

1)

համալսարանը

hamalsaranə

the university

→

համալսարանում

hamalsaranum

in/at the university

համալսարանը → համալսարանում

hamalsaranə {} hamalsaranum

{the university} {} {in/at the university}

2)

ճաշարան

chasharan

a restaurant

→

ճաշարանում

chasharanum

in/at a restaurant

ճաշարան → ճաշարանում

chasharan {} chasharanum

{a restaurant} {} {in/at a restaurant}

Turkic languages

TheProto-Turkic languagehad a locative case, and mostTurkic languageshave retained it.

Turkish

The locative case exists inTurkish,as the suffix generally specified by "-DA". For instance, in Turkish,okulmeans 'the school', andokuldameans '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" aftervoiceless consonants,but "d" elsewhere. The vowel changes depending on the phonetic characteristics of the previous vowel: it is "a" after a precedingback vowel,and "e" after a precedingfront vowel,congruent with thevowel harmonyof the language. This gives four different versions of the morpheme:

• -ta, as inkitapta,"in the book".
• -te, as inkentte,"in the city".
• -da, as inodada,"in the room".
• -de, as inevde,"in the house".

Azerbaijani

The locative case also exists inAzerbaijani.Similarly to Turkish, Azerbaijani employs a system of vowel harmony throughout the language. There are two simple Locative case endings:

• -da, as inkitabda,"in the book".
• -də, as inşəhərdə,"in the city".

Kazakh

The locative case also exists inKazakh.Similarly to Turkish, Kazakh employs a system of vowel harmony throughout the language. There are four simple locative case endings:

• -та, as inкітапта,kitapta,"in the book".
• -те, as inсөздікте,sӧzdikte,"in the dictionary".
• -да, as inқалада,qalada,"in the city".
• -де, as inбөлмеде,bӧlmede,"in the room".

Furthermore, Kazakh nouns frequently utilize apossessive affixto 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:

• -нда, as inЕрболдың қаласында,Erboldyng qalasynda,"in Erbol's city".
• -нде, as inЕрболдың сөздігінде,Erboldyng sӧzdiginde,"in Erbol's dictionary".

Uyghur

The locative case exists inUyghur,similarly to Turkish. This gives four different versions of the morpheme:

• -دا‎-da,as inمەيدانداmeydanda,"in the square".
• -دە‎-de,as inئۆيدەöyde,"in the house".
• -تا‎-ta,as inئاپتاپتاaptapta,"in the sunshine".
• -تە‎-te,as inدەرستەderste,"in the lesson".

Uzbek

The locative case exists also inUzbek.For example, in Uzbek,shaharmeans 'city', andshahardameans 'in the city', so using-dasuffix, the locative case is marked.

Uralic languages

Proto-Uralichas been reconstructed with a single "state" or "stationary" locative case, with the ending*-naor*-näin accordance withvowel harmony.In many of its descendants, additional locative cases were created by combining these endings with others.

Inari Sami

InInari Sami,the locative suffix is -st.

• kielâst,'in the language'
• kieđast,'in the hand'

Hungarian

In theHungarian 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 theinessive caseorsuperessive case.It can also be observed in a few local adverbs andpostpositions.It is no longer productive.

Examples:

• Győrött(alsoGyőrben),Pécsett(alsoPécsen),Vácott(alsoVácon),KaposvártandKaposvárott(alsoKaposváron),Vásárhelyt(alsoVásárhelyen)
• itt(here),ott(there),imitt,amott(there yonder),alatt(under),fölött(over),között(between/among),mögött(behind) etc.

The town/city name suffixes-ban/-benare the inessive ones, and the-on/-en/-önare the superessive ones.

Finnic languages

See also:Proto-Finnic locative system,Estonian locative system,andFinnish locative system

In theFinnic languages,the original Proto-Uralic locative became theessive case,but is still found with a locative meaning in some fossilised expressions such as Finnishkotona"at home". Two new locative cases were created from the old locative:

• The inessive case referring to internal location (being inside), with the reconstructedProto-Finnicending*-ssa/*-ssä(from earlier*-s-na/*-s-nä).
• Theadessive casereferring 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-sand-lin Estonian and some others.

The Finnic languages, like some Indo-European languages (Latin, Russian, Irish), do not normally use the verbto haveto show possession. The adessive case and the verbto beis used instead, so that the combination literally means "on/at me is...". For example,I have a housein Estonian would beMul on majain whichmulis in the adessive case,onis the third singular ofto be(is), andmajais in nominative, not accusative. Somajais the subject,onis the verb andmulis the indirect object. This could be translated to English asAt me is a houseorA house is at meorThere is a house at me.

Etruscan

TheEtruscan languagehas a locative ending in -thi. E.g.velsnalthi,"at Velznani", with reference toVolsinii.

Algonquian languages

Algonquian languageshave a locative.

Cree

InCree,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

InInnu-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)

Bibliography

• Buck, Carl Darling(1933).Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin.Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press.

External links

• Locative in the Russian language (in Russian)