Proto-Finnic/Nominal cases
Nominative
[edit | edit source]Ending
[edit | edit source]As with almost all languages with noun inflectional morphology, there is no ending in Proto-Finnic in singular. However, the nominative plural are formed by the suffix *-t to the oblique stem, and with most non-initial closed syllables are affected by consonant gradation (see /Phonology).
- *kala "fish" → *kalat "fishes"
- *joki "river" → *joget "rivers"
- *veci "water" → *vedet "waters"
- *pensas "brush" → *pensahet "brushes"
Due to many phonological changes, the nominative singular form are often obscured from the oblique stem:
- Proto-Uralic final *-e usually merges with *-i and thus coinciding with i-stem nominals in nominative singular.
- The above change also caused assibilation of *-ti to *-ci.
- However, *-e could also lost in words with more than three syllables. This change also further obscured the stem: *-me → *-n, *-kse → *-s.
- The situation for the noun *südän "heart" is somewhat complicated due to later analogies, see /Nouns and adjectives.
- Special case for the diminutive suffix *-inen: the oblique stem is always *-icet instead of expected *-inenet.
History
[edit | edit source]The nominative plural comes from Proto-Uralic *-t. However, in the plural suffixes for South Estonian and the rest of Southern Finnic are -q (pronounced with /ʔ/, e.g. kalaq) and -d (usually pronounced as written, except /t/ in Estonian, e.g. kalad).
Usage
[edit | edit source]Functions as subject of the sentence.
| *Mees | joos |
| man-nom | run-3sg.pres |
| "The man runs." | |
Accusative
[edit | edit source]Ending
[edit | edit source]This case always coincides with Proto-Finnic genitive singular in the singular and nominative singular in the plural. It attaches to the oblique stem.
- *kala "fish" → *kalan "fish (obj.)", *kalat "fishes (obj.)"
- *joki → *joget
- *veci "water" → *vedet "waters"
- *pensas "brush" → *pensahet "brushes"
History
[edit | edit source]The accusative singular comes from Proto-Uralic *-m. Due to regular phonological changes, this case was morphologically indistinguishable from genitive singular (see more at Genitive section). The accusative plural is borrowed from Proto-Uralic *-t due to the previously-mentioned syncretism with genitive.
Usage
[edit | edit source]Functions as subject of the sentence.
| *Mees | joos |
| man-nom | run-3sg.pres |
| "The man runs." | |
Genitive
[edit | edit source]Ending
[edit | edit source]It is marked by the suffix *-n, however, in the plural, it is either *-den or *-iden.
- *kala "fish" → *kalan "fish (obj.)", *kalat "fishes (obj.)"
- *joki → *joget
- *veci "water" → *vedet "waters"
- *pensas "brush" → *pensahet "brushes"
History
[edit | edit source]The accusative singular comes from Proto-Uralic *-m. Due to regular phonological changes, this case was morphologically indistinguishable from genitive singular (see more at Genitive section). The accusative plural is borrowed from Proto-Uralic *-t due to the previously-mentioned syncretism with genitive.