Etymology
"Dative" comes fromEnglish
TheSet expressions
The dative case is rare in modern English usage, but it can be argued that it survives in a few set expressions. One example is the word "methinks", with the meaning "it seems to me". It survives in this fixed form from Old English (having undergone, however, phonetic changes with the rest of the language), in which it was constructed as " t + "me" (the dative case of the personal pronoun) + "thinks" (i.e., "seems", < Old English þyncan, "to seem", a verb closely related to the verb þencan, "to think", but distinct from it in Old English; later it merged with "think" and lost this meaning).Relic pronouns
The modern objective case pronounModern English
The indirect object of the verb may be placed between the verb and the direct object of the verb: "he gave me a book" or "he wrote me a poem." The indirect object may also be expressed using aGerman
In general, the dative (German: ''Dativ'') is used to mark the indirect object of aLatin
There are several uses for the dative case (): * (dative of purpose), e.g. – "Greek
Ancient
In addition to its main function as the ''dativus'', the dative case has other functions inModern
The dative case, strictly speaking, no longer exists in Modern Greek, except in fossilized expressions like δόξα τω Θεώ (from the ecclesiastical τῷ Θεῷ δόξα, "Glory to God") or εν τάξει (ἐν τάξει, lit. "in order", i.e. "all right" or "OK"). Otherwise, most of the functions of the dative have been subsumed in theSlavic languages
In Russian, the dative case is used for indicating the indirect object of an action (that to which something is given, thrown, read, etc.). In the instance where a person is the goal of motion, dative is used instead ofBaltic languages
Both Lithuanian and Latvian have a distinct dative case in the system of nominal declensions. Lithuanian nouns preserve Indo-European inflections in the dative case fairly well: (o-stems) vaikas -> sg. vaikui, pl. vaikams; (ā-stems) ranka -> sg. rankai, pl. rankoms; (i-stems) viltis -> sg. vilčiai, pl. viltims; (u-stems) sūnus -> sg. sūnui, pl. sūnums; (consonant stems) vanduo -> sg. vandeniui, pl. vandenims. Adjectives in the dative case receive pronominal endings (this might be the result of a more recent development): tas geras vaikas -> sg. tam geram vaikui, pl. tiems geriems vaikams. The dative case in Latvian underwent further simplifications – the original masculine endings of ''both'' nouns and adjectives have been replaced with pronominal inflections: tas vīrs -> sg. tam vīram, pl. vīriem. Also, the final "s" in all Dative forms has been dropped. The only exception is personal pronouns in the plural: mums (to us), jums (to you). Note that in colloquial Lithuanian the final "s" in the dative is often omitted, as well: time geriem vaikam. In both Latvian and Lithuanian, the main function of the dative case is to render the indirect object in a sentence: (lt) aš duodu vyrui knygą; (lv) es doduArmenian
In modern Eastern Armenian, the dative is attained by adding any article to the genitive: : ''dog'' = շուն : GEN > շան ''(of the dog; dog's)'' with no articles : DAT > շանը or շանն ''(to the dog)'' with definite articles (-ն if preceding a vowel) : DAT > մի շան ''(to a dog)'' with indefinite article : DAT > շանս ''(to my dog)'' with 1st person possessive article : DAT > շանդ ''(to your dog)'' with 2nd person possessive article There is a general tendency to view -ին as the standard dative suffix, but only because that is its most productive (and therefore common) form. The suffix -ին as a dative marker is nothing but the standard, most common, genitive suffix -ի accompanied by the definite article -ն. But the dative case encompasses indefinite objects as well, which will not be marked by -ին: : Definite DAT > Ես գիրքը տվեցի տղային: ''(I gave the book to the boy)'' : Indefinite DAT> Ես գիրքը տվեցի մի տղայի: ''(I gave the book to a boy)'' The main function of the dative marking in Armenian is to indicate the receiving end of an action, more commonly the indirect object which in English is preceded by the preposition ''to''. In the use of "giving" verbs like ''give, donate, offer, deliver, sell, bring...'' the dative marks the recipient. With communicative verbs like ''tell, say, advise, explain, ask, answer...'' the dative marks the listener. Other verbs whose indirect objects are marked by the dative case in Armenian are ''show, reach, look, approach...'' Eastern Armenian also uses the dative case to mark the time of an event, in the same way English uses the preposition ''at'', as in ''Meet me at nine o' clock.''Indo-Aryan languages
Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu)
Hindustani (Sanskrit
The dative case is known as the "fourth case" (chaturthi-vibhakti) in the usual procedure in the declension of nouns. Its use is mainly for the indirect object.Non-Indo-European languages
Hungarian
As with many other languages, the dative case is used in Hungarian to show the indirect object of a verb. For example, ''Dánielnek adtam ezt a könyvet'' (I gave this book to Dániel). It has two suffixes, ''-nak'' and ''-nek''; the correct one is selected byFinnish
Finnish does not have a separate dative case. However, the allative case can fulfill essentially the same role as dative, beyond its primary meaning of directional movement (that is, going somewhere or approaching someone). For example: ''He lahjoittivat kaikki rahansa köyhille (They donated all their money to the poor.)Tsez
In the Northeast Caucasian languages, such as Tsez, the dative also takes the functions of theTurkish
TheSee also
* Dative construction *References
External links