Hindustani), the vocative case has same form as the nominative case for all singular nouns except for the singular masculine nouns that terminate in the vowel आ /a:/ (ā) and for all nouns in their plural forms the vocative case is always distinct from the nominative case.
Adjectives in ''Hindi-Urdu'' also have a vocative case form. In the absence of a noun argument, some adjectives decline like masculine nouns that do not end in आ /a:/ (ā). The vocative case has many similarities with the
oblique case
In grammar, an oblique (abbreviated ; from la, casus obliquus) or objective case (abbr. ) is a nominal case other than the nominative case, and sometimes, the vocative.
A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role exc ...
in Hindustani.
Sanskrit
In
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, the vocative (सम्बोधन विभक्ति ''sambodhana vibhakti'') has the same form as the nominative except in the singular. In vowel-stem nouns, if there is a ''–ḥ'' in the nominative, it is omitted and the stem vowel may be altered: ''–ā'' and ''–ĭ'' become ''–e'', ''–ŭ'' becomes ''–o'', ''–ī'' and ''–ū'' become short and ''–ṛ'' becomes ''–ar''. Consonant-stem nouns have no ending in the vocative:
The vocative form is the same as the nominative except in the masculine and feminine singular.
Slavic languages
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
has a distinct vocative case for many stems of singular masculine and feminine nouns, otherwise it is identical to the nominative. When different from the nominative, the vocative is simply formed from the nominative by appending either -e (rabъ: rabe "slave") or -o (ryba: rybo "fish"), but occasionally -u (krai: kraju "border", synъ: synu "son", vračь: vraču "physician") and -i (kostь: kosti "bone", gostь:gosti "guest", dьnь: dьni "day", kamy: kameni "stone") appear. Nouns ending with -ьcь have a vocative ending of -če (otьcь: otьče "father", kupьcь: kupьče "merchant"), likewise nouns ending with -dzь assume the vocative suffix -že (kъnědzь: kъněže "prince"). This is similar to Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, and Sanskrit, which also employ the -e suffix in vocatives.
Bulgarian
Unlike most other
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
,
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
has lost case marking for nouns. However, Bulgarian preserves vocative forms. Traditional male names usually have a vocative ending.
More-recent names and foreign names may have a vocative form but it is rarely used (''Ричарде'', instead of simply ''Ричард'' Richard, sounds unusual or humorous to native speakers).
Vocative phrases like ''господине министре'' (Mr. Minister) have been almost completely replaced by nominative forms, especially in official writing. Proper nouns usually also have vocative forms, but they are used less frequently. Here are some proper nouns that are frequently used in vocative:
Vocative case forms also normally exist for female given names:
Except for forms that end in -''е'', they are considered rude and are normally avoided. For female kinship terms, the vocative is always used:
Czech
In
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
, the vocative (''vokativ'', or ''5. pád'' – ''"the fifth case"'') usually differs from the nominative in masculine and feminine nouns in the singular.
In older common Czech (19th century), vocative form was sometimes replaced by nominative form in case of female names ("Lojzka, dej pokoj!") and in case of male nouns past a title ("pane učitel!", "pane továrník!", "pane Novák!"). This phenomenon was caused mainly by the German influence, and almost disappeared from the modern Czech. It can be felt as rude, discourteous or uncultivated, or as familiar, and is associated also with Slovakian influence (from the Czechoslovak Army) or Russian. In informal speech, it is common (but grammatically incorrect) to use the male
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
(see also
Czech name
Czech names are composed of a given name and a family name (surname). Czechs typically get one given name – additional names may be chosen by themselves upon baptism but they generally use one. With marriage, the bride typically adopts the brideg ...
) in the nominative to address men: ''pane Novák!'' instead of ''pane Nováku!'' (Female surnames are
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Tra ...
s, and their nominative and vocative have the same form: see
Czech declension
Czech declension is a complex system of grammatically determined modifications of nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals in Czech, one of the Slavic languages. Czech has seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locati ...
.) Using the vocative is strongly recommended in official and written styles.
Polish
In
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
, the vocative (''wołacz'') is formed with feminine nouns usually taking -o except those that end in -sia, -cia, -nia, and -dzia, which take -u, and those that end in -ść, which take -i. Masculine nouns generally follow the complex pattern of the
locative case
In grammar, the locative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical 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 ...
, with the exception of a handful of words such as
Bóg → Boże ("God"),
ojciec → ojcze ("father") and
chłopiec → chłopcze ("boy"). Neuter nouns and all plural nouns have the same form in the nominative and the vocative:
The latter form of the vocative of ''człowiek'' (human) is now considered poetical.
The
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
is increasingly used instead of the vocative to address people with their proper names. In other contexts the vocative remains prevalent. It is used:
*To address an individual with the function, title, other attribute, family role
**Panie doktorze (Doctor!), Panie prezesie! (Chairman!)
**Przybywasz za późno, pływaku (You arrive too late, swimmer)
**synu (son), mamo (mum), tato (dad)
*After
adjectives
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the mai ...
,
demonstrative
Demonstratives (abbreviated ) are words, such as ''this'' and ''that'', used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically deictic; their meaning depending on a particular frame ...
pronouns and
possessive pronoun
A possessive or ktetic form (Glossing abbreviation, abbreviated or ; from la, possessivus; grc, κτητικός, translit=ktētikós) is a word or grammatical construction used to indicate a relationship of possession (linguistics), possessio ...
s
**Nie rozumiesz mnie, moja droga Basiu! (You don't understand me, my dear Basia!)
*To address an individual in an offensive or condescending manner:
**Zamknij się, pajacu! ("Shut up, you buffoon!")
**Co się gapisz, idioto? ("What are you staring at, idiot!")
**Nie znasz się, baranie, to nie pisz! ("Stop writing, idiot, you don't know what you're talking about!")
**Spadaj, wieśniaku! ("Get lost, peasant!")
*After "Ty" (second person singular pronoun)
**Ty kłamczuchu! (You liar!)
*Set expressions:
**(O) Matko!, (O) Boże!, chłopie
The vocative is also often employed in affectionate and endearing contexts such as ''Kocham Cię, Krzysiu!'' ("I love you, Chris!") or ''Tęsknię za Tobą, moja Żono'' ("I miss you, my wife."). In addition, the vocative form sometimes takes the place of the nominative in informal conversations: ''Józiu przyszedł'' instead of "Józio przyszedł" ("Joey's arrived"). When referring to someone by their first name, the nominative commonly takes the place of the vocative as well: ''Ania, chodź tu!'' instead of ''Aniu, chodź tu!'' ("Anne, come here!").
Russian
=Historic vocative
=
The historic Slavic vocative has been lost in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and is now used only in archaic expressions. Several of them, mostly of Old Church Slavonic origin, are common in colloquial Russian: "Боже!" (''Bože'', vocative of "Бог" ''Bog'', "God") and "Боже мой!" (''Bože moj'', "My God!"), and "Господи!" (''Gospodi'', vocative of "Господь" ''Gospodj'', "Lord"), which can also be expressed as "Господи Иисусе!" (''Gospodi Iisuse!'', ''Iisuse'' vocative of "Иисус" ''Iisus'', "Jesus"). The vocative is also used in prayers: "Отче наш!" (''Otče naš'', "Our Father!"). Such expressions are used to express strong emotions (much like English "O my God!"), and are often combined ("Господи, Боже мой"). More examples of the historic vocative can be found in other Biblical quotes that are sometimes used as proverbs: "Врачу, исцелися сам" (''Vraču, iscelisia sam'', "Physician, heal thyself", nom. "врач", ''vrač''). Vocative forms are also used in modern
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
. The patriarch and bishops of the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
are addressed as "владыко" (''vladyko'', hegemon, nom. "владыка", ''vladyka''). In the latter case, the vocative is often also incorrectly used for the nominative to refer to bishops and patriarchs.
=New vocative
=
In modern colloquial Russian,
given names
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
and a small family of terms often take a special "shortened" form that some linguists consider to be a re-emerging vocative case. It is used only for given names and nouns that end in ''-a'' and ''-я'', which are sometimes dropped in the vocative form: "Лен, где ты?" ("Lena, where are you?"). It is basically equivalent to "Лена, где ты?" but suggests a positive personal and emotional bond between the speaker and the person being addressed. Names that end in ''-я'' then acquire a
soft sign
The soft sign (Ь, ь, italics ) also known as the front yer, front jer, or er malak (lit. "small er") is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Old Church Slavonic, it represented a short (or "reduced") front vowel. As with its companion, the b ...
: "Оль!" = "Оля!" ("Olga!"). In addition to given names, the form is often used with words like "мама" (mom) and "папа" (dad), which would be respectively shortened to "мам" and "пап". The plural form is used with words such as "ребят", "девчат" (nom: "ребята", "девчата" guys, gals).
Such usage differs from the historic vocative, which would be "Лено" and is not related.
Serbo-Croatian
Distinct vocatives exist only for singular masculine and feminine nouns. Nouns of the neuter gender and all nouns in plural have a vocative equal to the nominative. All vocative suffixes known from Old Church Slavonic also exist in Serbo-Croatian.
The vocative in Serbo-Croatian is formed according to one of three types of declension, which are classes of nouns having equal declension suffixes.
= First declension
=
The first declension comprises masculine nouns that end with a consonant. These have a vocative suffix of either ''-e'' (''doktor: doktore'' "doctor") or ''-u'' (''gospodar: gospodaru'' "master").
Nouns terminating in ''-or'' have the ''-e'' vocative suffix: (''doktor: doktore'' "doctor", ''major: majore'' "major", ''majstor: majstore'' "artisan") also nouns possessing an unsteady ''a'' (''vetar: vetre'' "wind", ''svekar: svekr''e "father-in-law") and the noun ''car: care'' "emperor". All other nouns in this class form the vocative with ''-u'': ''gospodar: gospodaru'' "master", ''pastir: pastiru'' "shepherd", ''inženjer: inženjeru'' "engineer", ''pisar: pisaru'' "scribe", ''sekretar: sekretaru'' "secretary".
In particular, masculine nouns ending with a palatal or prepalatal consonant ''j'', ''lj'', ''nj'', ''č''. ''dž''. ''ć'', ''đ''. ''š'' form vocatives with the ''-u'' suffix: ''heroj: heroju'' "hero", ''prijatelj: prijatelju'' "friend", ''konj: konju'' "horse", ''vozač: vozaču'' "driver", ''mladić: mladiću'' "youngster", ''kočijaš: kočijašu'' "coachman", ''muž: mužu'' "husband".
Nouns ending with the
velars
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...
''-k'', ''-g'' and ''-h'' are
palatalized to ''-č'', ''-ž'', ''-š'' in the vocative: ''vojnik: vojniče'' "soldier", ''drug: druže'' "comrade", ''duh: duše'' "ghost". A final ''-c'' becomes ''-č'' in the vocative: ''stric: striče'' "uncle", ''lovac: lovče'' "hunter". Likewise, a final ''-z'' becomes ''-ž'' in only two cases: ''knez: kneže'' "prince" and ''vitez: viteže'' "knight".
The loss of the unsteady ''a'' can trigger a sound change by hardening of consonants, as in ''vrabac: vrapče'' "sparrow" (not ''vrabče''), ''lisac: lišče'' "male fox" (not ''lisče'') and ''ženomrzac: ženomršče'' "misogynist" (not ''ženomrzče''). There may be a loss of ''-t'' before ''-c'' like in ''otac: oče'' "father" (instead of ''otče''). ''svetac: sveče'' "saint" (instead of ''svetče''). When these phonetic alterations would substantially change the base noun, the vocative remains equal to the nominative, for example ''tetak'' "uncle", ''mačak'' "male cat", ''bratac'' "cousin". This also holds true for foreign names ending with ''-k'', ''-g'' and ''-h'' like ''Džek'' (Jack), ''Dag'' (Doug), ''King'', ''Hajnrih''.
Male names ending with -o and -e have a vocative equal to the infinitive: ''Marko'', ''Mihailo'', ''Danilo'', ''Đorđe'', ''Pavle'', ''Radoje'' etc.
= Second declension
=
The second declension affects nouns with the ending ''-a''. These are mainly of feminine but sometimes also of masculine gender. These nouns have a vocative suffix ''-o'': ''riba: ribo'' "fish", ''sluga: slugo'' "servant", ''kolega: kolego'' "colleague", ''poslovođa: poslovođo'' "manager".
Exemptions to this rule are male and female names, which have a vocative equal to the nominative, e. g. ''Vera'', ''Zorka'', ''Olga'', ''Marija'', ''Gordana'', ''Nataša'', ''Nikola'', ''Kosta'', ''Ilija'' etc. However, this is different for twosyllabic names with an ascending accent such as ''Nâda'', ''Zôra'', ''Mîca'', ''Nêna'' and the male names ''Pêra'', ''Bôža'', ''Pâja'' etc., which form vocatives with -o: ''Nâdo'', ''Zôro'', ''Mîco'', ''Pêro'', ''Bôžo'', ''Pâjo'' etc.
Denominations of relatives like ''mama'' "mom", ''tata'' "dad", ''deda'' "grandfather", ''tetka'' "aunt", ''ujna'' "aunt" (mother's brother's wife), ''strina'' "aunt" (father's brother's wife), ''baba'' "grandmother" have vocatives equal to the nominative. This also holds true for country names ending in ''-ska'', ''-čka'', ''-ška''.
Nouns ending with the
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
suffix ''-ica'' that consist of three or more syllables have a vocative with ''-e'': ''učiteljica: učiteljice'' "female teacher", ''drugarica: drugarice'' "girlfriend", ''tatica: tatice'' "daddy", ''mamica: mamice'' "mommy". This also applies to female names ''Danica: Danice'', ''Milica: Milice'', ''Zorica: Zorice'', and the male names ''Perica: Perice'', ''Tomica: Tomice''. Nouns of this class that can be applied to both males and females usually have a vocative ending of ''-ico'' (''pijanica: pijanico'' "drunkard", ''izdajica: izdajico'' "traitor", ''kukavica: kukavico'' "coward"), but vocatives with ''-ice'' are also seen.
The use of vocative endings for names varies among Serbo-Croatian dialects. People in Croatia often use only nominative forms as vocatives, while others are more likely to use grammatical vocatives.
= Third declension
=
The third declension affects feminine nouns ending with a consonant. The vocative is formed by appending the suffix ''-i'' to the nominative (''reč: reči'' "word", ''noć: noći'' "night").
Slovak
Until the end of the 1980s, the existence of a distinct vocative case in
Slovak was recognised and taught at schools. Today, the case is no longer considered to exist except for a few archaic examples of the original vocative remaining in religious, literary or ironic contexts:
In everyday use, the Czech vocative is sometimes retrofitted to certain words:
Another stamp of vernacular vocative is emerging, presumably under the influence of
Hungarian for certain family members or proper names:
Ukrainian
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
has retained the vocative case mostly as it was in
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the Attested language, unattested, linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately ...
:
There are some exceptions:
It is used even for loanwords and foreign names:
It is obligatory for all native names:
It is used for patronymics:
Latin
In
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, the form of the vocative case of a noun is often the same as the nominative. Exceptions include singular non-neuter second-declension nouns that end in ''-us'' in the nominative case. An example would be the famous line from Shakespeare, "
Et tu, Brute?" (commonly translated as "And you, Brutus?"): ''Brut''e is the vocative case and ''Brut''us would be the nominative.
Nouns that end in ''-ius'' end with ''-ī'' instead of the expected ''-ie''. Thus, ''Julius'' becomes ''Julī'' and ''filius'' becomes ''filī''. The shortening does not shift the accent so the vocative of ''Vergilius'' is ''Vergilī'', with accent on the second syllable even though it is short. Nouns that end in ''-aius'' and ''-eius'' have vocatives that end in ''-aī'' or ''-eī'' even though the ''i'' in the nominative is consonantal.
First-declension and second-declension adjectives also have distinct vocative forms in the masculine singular if the nominative ends in ''-us'', with the ending ''-e''. Adjectives that end in ''-ius'' have vocatives in ''-ie'' so the vocative of ''eximius'' is ''eximie''.
Nouns and adjectives that end in ''-eus'' do not follow the rules above. ''Meus'' forms the vocative irregularly as ''mī'' or ''meus'', while Christian ''Deus'' does not have a distinct vocative and retains the form ''Deus''. "My God!" in Latin is thus ''mī Deus!'', but
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
's
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
consistently used ''Deus meus'' as a vocative.
Classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later periods ...
did not use a vocative of ''deus'' either (in reference to pagan gods, the Romans used the
suppletive In linguistics and etymology, suppletion is traditionally understood as the use of one word as the inflected form of another word when the two words are not cognate. For those learning a language, suppletive forms will be seen as "irregular" or even ...
form ''dive'').
Romance languages
West Iberian languages
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
drops the article to form the vocative. The vocative is always between commas and, like in many other languages, a particle ''Ó'' is commonly used:
In
Extremaduran and
Fala, some post-tonical vowels open in vocative forms of nouns, a new development that is unrelated to the Latin vocative case.
Catalan
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
drops the article to form the vocative.
French
Like English,
French sometimes uses (or historically used) a particle ''Ô'' to mark vocative phrases rather than by change to the form of the noun. A famous example is the title and first line of the Canadian national anthem, ''
O Canada
"O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...
'' (French title: ''Ô Canada''), a vocative phrase addressing
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Romanian
The vocative case in
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
is partly inherited, occasionally causing other morphophonemic changes (see also the article on
Romanian nouns):
*singular masculine/neuter: "-e" as in
**"om": "omule!" (''man, human being''),
**"băiat": "băiete!" or "băiatule!" (''boy''),
**"văr": "vere!" (''cousin''),
**"Ion": "Ioane!" (''John'');
*singular feminine: "-o" as in
**"soră": "soro!" (''sister''),
**"nebună": "nebuno!" (''mad woman''), also in masculine (nebunul)
**"deșteaptă": "deșteapto!" (''smart one'' (''f''), often used sarcastically),
**"Ileana": "Ileano!" (''Helen'');
Since there is no ''-o'' vocative in Latin, it must have been borrowed from Slavic: compare the corresponding Bulgarian forms ''сестро'' (''sestro''), ''откачалко'' (''otkachalko''), ''Елено'' (''Eleno'').
*plural, all genders: "-lor" as in
**"frați": "fraților!" (''brothers''),
**"boi": "boilor!" (''oxen'', used toward people as an invective),
**"doamne și domni": "doamnelor și domnilor!" (''ladies and gentlemen'').
In formal speech, the vocative often simply copies the nominative/accusative form even when it does have its own form. That is because the vocative is often perceived as very direct and so can seem rude.
Venetian
Venetian has lost all case endings, like most other Romance languages. However, with feminine proper names the role of the vocative is played by the absence of the determiner: the personal article ''ła / l' ''usually precedes feminine names in other situations, even in predicates. Masculine names and other nouns lack articles and so rely on
prosody to mark forms of address:
Predicative constructions:
Arabic
Properly speaking,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
has only three cases:
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
,
accusative
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
and
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
. However, a meaning similar to that conveyed by the vocative case in other languages is indicated by the use of the particle ''yā'' ( ar, يا) placed before a noun inflected in the
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
case (or
accusative
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
if the noun is in construct form). In English translations, it is often translated literally as ''O'' instead of being omitted. A longer form used in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
is ' (masculine), ' (feminine), sometimes combined with ''yā''. The particle ''yā'' was also used in the old
Castilian language
In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish langu ...
, because of Arabic influence via
Mozarabic
Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...
immigrations.
Mandarin
Mandarin uses no special inflected forms for address. However, special forms and
morphemes
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone a ...
(that are not inflections) exist for addressing.
Mandarin has several particles that can be attached to the word of address to mark certain special vocative forces, where appropriate. A common one is ''a'', attached to the end of the address word. For example, ''rìjì'' "diary" becomes ''rìjì'a''.
Certain specialized vocative morphemes also exist, albeit with limited applicabilities. For instance, the
Beijing dialect
The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese and Beijingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, the official language in the People's Republic of ...
of
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
, to express strong feelings (especially negative ones) to someone, a neutral tone suffix ''-ei'' may be attached to certain address words. It is most commonly applied to the word (''sūnzi'', "grandson"), to form ''sūnzei'', meaning approximately "Hey you nasty one!". Another example is (''xiǎozi'', lit. "kid; young one"), resulting in ''xiǎozei'' "Hey kiddo!".
Japanese
The vocative case is present in
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
as the particle よ. This usage is often literary or poetic. For example:
In conversational Japanese, this same particle is often used at the end of a sentence to indicate assertiveness, certainty or emphasis.
Georgian
In
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
, the vocative case is used to address the second-person singular and plural. For word roots that end with a consonant, the vocative case suffix is -''o'', and for the words that end with a vowel, it is -''v'' like in
Old Georgian
Old Georgian (ႤႬႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႭჃႪႨ, ''enay kartuli'') was a literary language of the Georgian monarchies attested from the 5th century. The language remains in use as the liturgical language of the Georgian Orthodox Church and for ...
, but for some words, it is considered archaic. For example, ''kats-'' is the root for the word "man". If one addresses someone with the word, it becomes ''katso''.
Adjectives are also declined in the vocative case. Just like nouns, consonant final stem adjectives take the suffix -''o'' in the vocative case, and the vowel final stems are not changed:
:''lamazi kali'' "beautiful woman" (nominative case)
:''lamazo kalo!'' "beautiful woman!" (vocative case)
In the second phrase, both the adjective and the noun are declined. The personal pronouns are also used in the vocative case. ''Shen'' "you" (singular) and ''tkven'' "you" (plural) in the vocative case become ''she!'' and ''tkve'', without the -''n''. Therefore, one could, for instance, say, with the declension of all of the elements:
''She lamazo kalo!'' "you beautiful woman!"
Korean
The vocative case in
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
is commonly used with first names in casual situations by using the vocative
case marker
In linguistics, a marker is a free or bound morpheme that indicates the grammatical function of the marked word, phrase, or sentence. Most characteristically, markers occur as clitics or inflectional affixes. In analytic languages and agglutinat ...
(호격 조사) 아 (''a'') if the name ends in a consonant and 야 (''ya'') if the name ends with a vowel:
미진이 집에 가? (''Mijini jibe ga?'') (Is Mijin going home?)
미진아, 집에 가? (''Mijina, jibe ga?'') (Mijin, are you going home?)
동배 뭐 해? (''Dongbae mwo hae?'') (What is Dongbae doing?)
동배야, 뭐 해? (''Dongbaeya, mwo hae?'') (Dongbae, what are you doing?)
In formal Korean, the marker 여 (''yeo'') or 이여 (''iyeo'') is used, the latter if the root ends with a consonant. Thus, a quotation of
William S. Clark would be translated as follows:
소년이여, 야망을 가져라. (''sonyeoniyeo, yamangeul gajyeora.'') (Boys, be ambitious.)
The
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...
infix 시 (''si'') is inserted in between the 이 (''i'') and 여 (''yeo'').
신이시여, 부디 저들을 용서하소서. (''sinisiyeo, budi jeodeureul yongseohasoseo.'') (Oh god, please forgive them.)
In
Middle Korean
Middle Korean is the period in the history of the Korean language succeeding Old Korean and yielding in 1600 to the Modern period.
The boundary between the Old and Middle periods is traditionally identified with the establishment of Goryeo in 91 ...
, there were three honorific classes of the vocative case:
Hungarian
Hungarian has a number of vocative-like constructions, even though it lacks an explicit vocative
inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defin ...
.
Noun phrases in a vocative context always take the zero article. While noun phrases can take
zero articles for other reasons, the lack of an article otherwise expected marks a vocative construction. This is especially prominent in dialects of Hungarian where personal proper names and other personal animate nouns tend to take the appropriate definite article, similarly to certain dialects of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
detailed above. For example:
With certain words such as ("friend"), ("lady"), ("gentleman, lord"), vocation is, in addition to the zero article, always
marked by the first person possessive:
Words like ("sibling, brother") and other words of relation do not require the first person possessive, but it is readily used in common speech, especially in familiar contexts:
The second-person pronoun
can be used to emphasize a vocation when appropriate: ("Why did you not give it to him, you fool?"), ("Charlie, have you seen my glasses?"), ("You shall yet hang for this, crooks!"), etc.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vocative Case
Grammatical cases