In linguistics, abessive (abbreviated or ), caritive and privative (abbreviated ) are names for a grammatical case expressing the lack or absence of the marked noun. In English, the corresponding function is expressed by the preposition without or by the suffix -less.

The name abessive is derived from Latin abesse "to be away/absent", and is especially used in reference to Uralic languages. The name caritive is derived from Latin carere "to lack", and is especially used in reference to Caucasian languages. The name privative is derived from Latin privare "to deprive".

In Afro-Asiatic Languages

Somali

In the Somali language, the abessive case is marked by -laa or "-la" and dropping all but the first syllable on certain words For example:

jeceyl "love"

jeelaa "loveless"

dar "clothes"

darla "clothesless," i.e., naked

In Australian languages

Martuthunira

In Martuthunira, the privative case is formed with two suffixes, -wirriwa and -wirraa. What determines which suffix is used in a given situation is unclear.

In Caucasian languages

In Uralic languages

Finnish

In the Finnish language, the abessive case is marked by -tta for back vowels and -tt for front vowels according to vowel harmony. For example:

raha "money"

rahatta "without money"

An equivalent construction exists using the word ilman and the partitive:

ilman rahaa "without money"

or, more uncommonly:

rahaa ilman "without money"

The abessive case of nouns is rarely used in writing and even less in speech, although some abessive forms are more common than their equivalent ilman forms:

tuloksetta "unsuccessfully, fruitlessly"

Itkin syytt . "I cried for no reason."

The abessive is, however, commonly used in nominal forms of verbs (formed with the affix -ma- / -m -), such as puhu-ma-tta "without speaking", osta-ma-tta "without buying," v litt -m -tt "without caring:"

Juna j i tulematta. "The train didn't show up."

This form can often be replaced by using the negative form of the verb:

Juna ei tullut.

It is possible to occasionally hear what is considered wrong usage of the abessive in Finnish, where the abessive and ilman forms are combined:

ilman rahatta

There is debate as to whether this is interference from Estonian.

Estonian

Estonian also uses the abessive, which is marked by -ta in both the singular and the plural:

(ilma) autota "without a car" (preposition ilma is considered a mistake against textual style)

Tallinn boasts a pair of bars that play on the use of the comitative and abessive, the Nimeta baar (the pub with no name) and the Nimega baar (the pub with a name).

The nominal forms of verbs are marked with the affix -ma- and the abessive marker -ta:

Rong j i tulemata. "The train didn't show up."

Skolt Sami

The abessive marker for nouns in Skolt S mi is -t in both the singular and the plural:

Ri kkum ve 'rt . "I cried for no reason."

The abessive-like non-finite verb form (converb) is or -kani:

Son vu 'lji domoi m 'nt le i pu ttam. "He/she went home without saying why he/she had come."

Unlike in Finnish, the abessive is still commonly used in Skolt S mi.

Inari Sami

The abessive marker for nouns in Inari S mi is -t . The corresponding non-finite verb form is -h nn , -hinn or -henn .

Other Sami languages

The abessive is not used productively in the Western S mi languages, although it may occur as a cranberry morpheme.

Hungarian

In Hungarian, the abessive case is marked by -talan for back vowels and -telen for front vowels according to vowel harmony. Sometimes, with certain roots, the suffix becomes -tlan or -tlen. For example:

p nz "money"

p nztelen "without money"

haza "home(land)"

haz tlan "(one) without a homeland"

In Turkic Languages

Turkish

The suffix -siz (variations: -s z,-suz,-s z) is used.

Ex: Evsiz (ev = house, houseless/homeless), barks z, g rg s z (g rg = good manners, ill-bred), yurtsuz.

Azeribaijani

The same suffix is used in Azeribaijani language.

Chuvash

In Chuvash the suffix is: -

Kyrgyz

In Kyrgyz the suffix is - I

See also

• Essive case
• Inessive case

References

External links

• Glossary of linguistic terms - What is abessive case?

bg: bs:Abesiv br:Troad abesivel ca:Cas abessiu cs:Abessiv de:Abessiv es:Caso abesivo ext:Abessivu fr:Abessif it:Abessivo nl:Abessief ja: ( ) no:Abessiv nn:Abessiv pl:Abessivus pt:Caso abessivo ru: fi:Abessiivi sv:Abessiv zh: