Abessive case

In linguistics, abessive (abbreviated ABE or ABESS), caritive and privative (abbreviated PRIV) is the grammatical case expressing the lack or absence of the marked noun. In English, the corresponding function is expressed by the preposition without or by the suffix -less.

The name abessive is derived from Latin abesse "to be away/absent", and is especially used in reference to Uralic languages. The name caritive is derived from Latin carere "to lack", and is especially used in reference to Caucasian languages. The name privative is derived from Latin privare "to deprive".

In Afro-Asiatic languages

Somali

In the Somali language, the abessive case is marked by -laa or -la and dropping all but the first syllable on certain words. For example:

jeceylaa "love"
jeelaa "loveless"
dar "clothes"
dharla'aan "clothesless," i.e., naked

In Australian languages

Martuthunira

In Martuthunira, the privative case is formed with two suffixes, -wirriwa and -wirraa. What determines which suffix is used in a given situation is unclear.

Parla-wirraanganarna.
money-PRIV1PL.EX
We've got no money.

In Uralic languages

Finnish

In the Finnish language, the abessive case is marked by -tta for back vowels and -ttä for front vowels according to vowel harmony. For example:

raha "money"
rahatta "without money"

An equivalent construction exists using the word ilman and the partitive:

ilman rahaa "without money"

or, less commonly:

rahaa ilman "without money"

The abessive case of nouns is rarely used in writing and even less in speech, although some abessive forms are more common than their equivalent ilman forms:

tuloksetta "unsuccessfully, fruitlessly"
Itkin syyttä. "I cried for no reason."

The abessive is, however, commonly used in nominal forms of verbs (formed with the affix -ma- / -mä-), such as puhu-ma-tta "without speaking", osta-ma-tta "without buying," välittä-mä-ttä "without caring:"

Juna jäi tulematta. "The train didn't show up."

This form can often be replaced by using the negative form of the verb:

Juna ei tullut.

It is possible to occasionally hear what is considered wrong usage of the abessive in Finnish, where the abessive and ilman forms are combined:

ilman rahatta

There is debate as to whether this is interference from Estonian.

Estonian

Estonian also uses the abessive, which is marked by -ta in both the singular and the plural:

(ilma) autota "without a car" (the preposition ilma "without" is optional)

Unlike in Finnish, the abessive is commonly used in both written and spoken Estonian.

The nominal forms of verbs are marked with the affix -ma- and the abessive marker -ta:

Rong jäi tulemata. "The train didn't show up."

Tallinn has a pair of bars that play on the use of the comitative and abessive, the Nimeta baar[1] (the nameless bar) and the Nimega baar[2] (the bar with a name).

Skolt Sami

The abessive marker for nouns in Skolt Sámi is -tää or -taa in both the singular and the plural:

Riâkkum veäʹrtää. "I cried for no reason."

The abessive-like non-finite verb form (converb) is -ǩâni or -kani:

Son vuõʹlji domoi mainsteǩâni mõʹnt leäi puättam. "He/she went home without saying why he/she had come."

Unlike Finnish, the Skolt Sámi abessive has no competing expression for lack of an item.

Inari Sami

The abessive marker for nouns in Inari Sámi is -táá. The corresponding non-finite verb form is -hánnáá, -hinnáá or -hennáá.

Other Sami languages

The abessive is not used productively in the Western Sámi languages, although it may occur as a cranberry morpheme.

Hungarian

In Hungarian, the abessive case is marked by -talan for back vowels and -telen for front vowels according to vowel harmony. Sometimes, with certain roots, the suffix becomes -tlan or -tlen. For example:

pénz "money"
pénztelen "without money"
haza "home(land)"
hazátlan "(one) without a homeland"

There is also the postposition nélkül, which also means without, but is not meant for physical locations.[3]

Cukor nélkül iszom a teát. "I drink tea without sugar."
Testvér nélkül éltem. "I lived without siblings."
Eljöttél Magyarországra a testvéred nélkül? "Did you come to Hungary without your sibling?"

In Turkic languages

Bashkir

In Bashkir the suffix is -һыҙ/-һеҙ (-hïð/-hĭð).

Turkish

The suffix -siz (variations: -sız, -suz, -süz) is used in Turkish.

Ex: evsiz (ev = house, houseless/homeless), barksız, görgüsüz (görgü = good manners, ill-bred), yurtsuz.

Azerbaijani

The same suffix is used in the Azerbaijani language.

Chuvash

In Chuvash the suffix is -сĂр.

Kyrgyz

In Kyrgyz the suffix is -сIз.

gollark: There were when I looked.
gollark: Probably more like 1 and a bit, but yes.
gollark: I see a few 4d19h eggs in it.
gollark: How long until it arrives?
gollark: ?

See also
  • Essive case
  • Inessive case
  • In Russian, Abessive is known as the Caritive (лиши́тельный), used with the negation of verbs: не знать пра́вды (not know the truth) – знать пра́вду (know the truth). This case sometimes is identical to the genitive and sometimes to the accusative

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-07-07. Retrieved 2006-06-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Nimeta baar, English page
  2. http://www.baarid.ee/en/NimegaBar/programm.php Nimega baar Archived March 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Postpositions (prepositions) in Hungarian [HungarianReference.com > Grammar > Misc grammar > Postpositions]". www.hungarianreference.com.

Further reading
  • Karlsson, Fred (2018). Finnish - A Comprehensive Grammar. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-82104-0.
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