Locative Case - Indo-European Languages

Indo-European Languages

The Proto-Indo-European language had a locative case expressing "place where", an adverbial function. The ending depended on the last vowel of the stem (consonant, a-, o-, i-, u-stems) and the number (singular or plural). Subsequently the locative case tended to merge with other cases: the genitive or dative. Some daughter languages retained it as a distinct case. The locative case is found in:

  • modern Balto-Slavic languages (see however prepositional case)
  • some classical Indo-European languages, particularly Sanskrit and Old Latin
  • uncommon, archaic or literary use in certain modern Indian languages (such as Marathi in which a separate ablative case has however disappeared)

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