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Instructive case

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In grammar, the instructive case is a grammatical case used in Finnish, Estonian, and the Turkic languages.

Uralic languages

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In Finnish, the instructive case is used to indicate means, manner, instrument, location, or time. It is almost exclusively used in fixed expressions, such as in omin silmin (lit.'with one's own eyes').[1] However, the instructive is productive for infinitive verbal constructions to indicate manner, as in nauraen (lit.'laughing'): He astuivat nauraen sisään (lit.'They stepped in through the door laughing').[2]

In modern Finnish, many of its instrumental uses are being superseded by the adessive case, as in minä matkustin junalla (lit.'I travelled by train').[citation needed]

The instructive case is only marginally present in Estonian in lexicalized expressions. Language reformers of the 20th century did try to revive it, but with little success.[3]

Turkish

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In Turkish, the suffix -le is used for this purpose; for example, Trenle geldim (lit.'I came via train').[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Karlsson (2018), p. 264.
  2. ^ Karlsson (2018), p. 265, 353.
  3. ^ Metslang (2017), p. 302.

Sources

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  • Anhava, Jaakko (2015). "Criteria For Case Forms in Finnish and Hungarian Grammars". Studia Orientalia Electronica. 108. Helsinki.
  • Karlsson, Fred (2018). Finnish - A Comprehensive Grammar. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-82104-0.
  • Metslang, Helle (2017). "10. Can a language be forced? The case of Estonian". In Van Olmen, Daniel; Cuyckens, Hubert; Ghesquière, Lobke (eds.). Aspects of Grammaticalization: (Inter)Subjectification and Directionality. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs. Vol. 305. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 281–310. doi:10.1515/9783110492347-011. ISBN 9783110489699. ISSN 1861-4302.