Terminative case

In grammar, the terminative or terminalis case (abbreviated ) is a case specifying a limit in space and time and also to convey the goal or target of an action.

Assamese

In the Assamese language, the terminative case is indicated by the suffix :

Bashkir

In the Bashkir language, the terminative case is indicated by the suffix :

However, postpositions (), (), () 'till, up to' are more frequently used in Bashkir to convey this meaning.

Classical Hebrew

T.J. Meek has argued that "the so-called locative " in Classical Hebrew "is terminative only and should be renamed terminative ."

Estonian

In the Estonian language, the terminative case is indicated by the '-ni' suffix:

*: 'to the river'/'as far as the river'
*: 'until six o'clock'

Hungarian

The Hungarian language uses the '-ig' suffix.

*: 'as far as the house'
*: 'until six o'clock'

If used for time, it can also show how long the action lasted.

*: 'for six hours'/'six hours long'
*: 'for a hundred years'

It is not always clear whether the thing in terminative case belongs to the interval in question or not.

*: 'I stayed until the concert (ended or started?)' Here it is more likely that the person only stayed there until the concert began.
*: 'Say a number from 1 to (until) 10.' However here 10 can be said as well.

The corresponding question word is ''?'', which is simply the question word ''?'' ('what?') in terminative case.

Sumerian

In Sumerian, the terminative case not only was used to indicate end-points in space or time but also end-points of an action itself such as its target or goal. In this latter role, it functioned much like an accusative case.

Finnish

The use of the postposition ''asti'' (or synonymously '' saakka'') with the illative (or allative or sublative) case in Finnish very closely corresponds to the terminative. These same postpositions with the elative (or ablative) case also express the opposite of a terminative: a limit in time or space of origination or initiation.

The old Finnish terminative ''-ni'' is no longer productive, but it appears in the Kalevala: nominative ''se'' "it, that" ~ terminative ''sini'' "up to where" = modern ''siihen asti'', and nominative ''kuka'' "who, what (poetic)" ~ terminative ''kuni'' "up to where" = modern ''kuhun asti''.Lönnrot, Elias. Kalevala. 31. runo, säkeet 279-282 Also, the established phrase ''kaikki tyynni'' "every, until completion" contains the terminative ''tyynni'', being derived from an older form ''kaikki tyvennik'' "every, up to its base", where ''tyvi'' is "foot, base".

Japanese

The Japanese particle まで (''made'') acts like a terminative case.

See also

* Cessative aspect
* Desiderative mood
* List of grammatical cases

Further reading

*

References

{{Grammatical cases

Grammatical cases