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The Finnish Case System

The Finnish Case System. Steven Ellis. Location cases. These cases function as prepositions ( inesseive , elative, illative, adessive , ablative, allative ) Divided into internal and external location cases Distinction is purely semantic, both function the same syntactically

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The Finnish Case System

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  1. The Finnish Case System Steven Ellis

  2. Location cases • These cases function as prepositions • (inesseive, elative, illative, adessive, ablative, allative) • Divided into internal and external location cases • Distinction is purely semantic, both function the same syntactically • Nouns using these cases check case against the DP position of the PP in which they are embedded

  3. Location Case Example • Viisitoista sijamuotoa on suomen kielessä • Fifteen cases are Finnish language+in(inessive) • ”There are 15 cases in the Finnish language.” • Or, more literally – ”Fifteen cases are in the Finnish language.”

  4. CP C` TP C Ø T’ DP T tj VP D’ V` D Ø NP V On +nonpast PP N` AdjP N P` Sijamuotoa cases +NOM DP P Adj` ti Adj D` Viisitoista Fifteen Affix lowering in action! P->N D Ø NP N` AdjP N kiele+ssai Language+in +INESS Adj` Adj Suomen Finnish

  5. Grammatical Cases • Nominative, genitive, accusative • Function same as English equivalents • Denote subject, possessive, direct object

  6. Grammatical Cases (cont.) • Partitive • Indicates an ongoing process or incomplete action • Ex. “Luenkirjan(part.)” – I am reading a book • Vs. “Luenkirjaa(acc.)” – I (will) read a book • Also used in weather reports

  7. CP C` TP C Ø T’ DP Ø VP T Ti+Tj V Luen+nonpast DP D` NP D Ø N` N Kirja+n +PARTITIVE (Progressive tense)

  8. Marginal cases (En usko, että he eivät voita.) • Essive • Carries the meaning of a temporary state of being • “As a child, I was short.” • ”Lapsena olin lyhyt.” • Abessive • Means “without” • Translative • Indicates a change of state • Naapurinitulirikkaaksi

  9. Marginal Cases (cont.) • Comitative • Means “in company with” • Instructive • Assigns an instrumental thematic relation to the noun

  10. Case Checking • Certain prepositions require a particular case • Olen Suomessamarraskuuhunasti. • “I’ll be in Finland until November” • Until requires illative (normally used as the preposition to) • Certain verbs require the complement to be of a specific case • Ex. “YstäväniasuuHelsingissä.” • Friend resides Helsinki+inessive(in) • “My friend resides in Helsinki.”

  11. CP C` TP C Ø T’ DP T Ø VP D’ V` D Ø NP PP V asuu +INESSIVE N` N P` Ystäväni DP P ti D` NP D Ø N` AdjP N Helsingi+ssai +INESSIVE Adj` Adj

  12. Onko sinulla kysymyksiä?

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