Finnish Noun Cases - Marginal Cases

Marginal Cases

As their name indicates, the use of these cases is rather marginal. The name "general locatives" is sometimes used of the essive and translative cases (as well as partitive above) because their oldest meanings imply that they have been used to indicate location.

Essive

Characteristic ending -na. If the noun or adjective has two vowel stems, the strong vowel stem comes from the essive singular. NB the consonant stem used to be quite common in the essive, and some nouns and adjectives still have this feature.

This case sometimes carries the meaning of a temporary state of being, often equivalent to the English "as a ..."

• "lapse|na" = "as a child", "when (I) was a child"
• "vete|nä" = "as water"
• "pien|i|nä palas|i|na" = "in small pieces"
• "se on täyn|nä" = "it is full"

The essive is also used for specifying days and dates when something happens.

• "huomen|na" = "tomorrow"
• "maanantai|na" = "on Monday"
• "kuudente|na joulukuuta" = "on the 6th of December" (Finnish independence day).

In ancient Finnish, essive had a meaning similar to the local cases, which can still be seen in some words (being somewhere):

• "koto|na" = "at home" (koto being an archaic form of koti, still current in some dialects)
• "läh|empä|nä" = "nearer"
• "rann|empa|na" = "closer to the shore"
• "länn|empä|nä" = "further west"

Translative

Characteristic ending -ksi added to the weak vowel stem. The ending is -kse- before a possessive suffix.

This is the counterpart of the essive, with the basic meaning of a change of state. Examples:

• "maalaa se punaise|ksi" = "paint it red"
• "tunnen itseni väsynee|ksi" = "I feel tired".
• "se muuttui vede|ksi" = "it turned into water"

Also has a meaning similar to English "for a ..."

• "mäki on englanni|ksi 'hill'" = (literally:) "'hill' is English for mäki"
• "toistaise|ksi" = "for the time being", "for now"
• "suunnitelmia perjantai|ksi" = "plans for Friday"
• "valmis perjantai|ksi" = "ready by Friday"
• "mitä sinä teet työ|kse|si?" = "what do you do for a living?"

Rarely indicates location (going somewhere):

• "läh|emmä|ksi" = "(moving) nearer to"
• "rann|emma|ksi" = "closer to the shore"
• "länn|emmä|ksi" = "further west"

Instructive

Characteristic ending -n added usually (but not always) to plural stem

This has the basic meaning of "by means of". It is a comparatively rarely used case, though it is found in some commonly used expressions.

• "omi|n silmi|n" = "with (my) own eyes"
• "käsi|n" = "by hand"
• "rinta rinna|n = "side by side"
• "jala|n" = "by foot"

It is also used with verbal second infinitives to mean "by ...ing", for example

• "lentäen" = "by flying", "by air"

Abessive

Characteristic ending -tta

This has the basic meaning of "without". This case is a rarely used by itself, especially in the spoken language, but is found in some expressions and proverbs.

• "joka kuri|tta kasvaa, se kunnia|tta kuolee" = "who grows up without discipline, dies without honor"

However, abessive is quite common in combination with the third infinitive (-ma-, -mä-).

• "syömättä" = "without eating"
• "tekemättä" = "without doing"
• "... lukuun ottamatta" = "without taking into account..."

Comitative

Characteristic ending -ine (plus a possessive suffix for nouns but none for adjectives). This ending is added to the plural stem, even if the noun is singular, which may cause ambiguity.

This is a rarely used case, especially in the spoken language. The meaning is "in the company of" or "together with"

• "talo kirjo|ine|en" = "the house with its books" or "book"
• "hän saapui kauni|ine vaimo|ine|en" = "he arrived together with his beautiful wife" or "wives"