The
Estonian language
Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...
has six
locative case
In grammar, the locative case ( ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. In languages using it, the locative case may perform a function which in English would be expressed with such prepositions as "in", "on", "at", and ...
s, descended from the
locative cases of Proto-Finnic. They can be classified according to a three-way contrast of entering, residing in, and exiting a state, with two sets of cases: inner and outer.
For some nouns, there are two forms of the illative: the regular suffix ''-sse'' (e.g. ), added to the
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 ...
stem, and an alternative, short form, which is either consists of a different suffix ( > ), lengthening (e.g. > , ''
o:l>
o::li'), and/or another change in the word. The always regular ''-sse'' illative ending is a newer innovation, and can sometimes have a slightly different meaning than the old "short form" illative, the latter having the concrete locative meaning (e.g.: 'into the room'), and the former being used in other structures that require the illative ( 'concerning the room...').
See also
*
Proto-Finnic locative system
*
Finnish locative system
References
*
Ariste, Paul. 1960. "Ekstsessiivist läänemere keeltes." In ''Emakeele Seltsi Aastaraamat'', VI, pp. 145-161.
* Moseley, C. (1994). ''Colloquial Estonian: A Complete Language Course''. London: Routledge.
* Oinas, Felix J (1966). ''Basic Course in Estonian''. Bloomington: Indiana University.
Estonian Language - Estonian InstituteEesti keele käsiraamat - Käändsõna
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonian Locative System
Estonian language
Languages of Estonia
Finnic languages
Grammatical cases