inessive case
{{Short description|Grammatical case}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2022}}
In grammar, the inessive case (abbreviated {{sc|ine}}; from {{langx|la|inesse}} "to be in or at") is a locative grammatical case. This case carries the basic meaning of "in": for example, "in the house" is {{lang|fi|talo·ssa}} in Finnish, {{lang|et|maja·s}} in Estonian, {{lang|mdf|куд·са}} ({{transl|mdf|kud·sa}}) in Moksha, {{lang|eu|etxea·n}} in Basque, {{lang|lt|nam·e}} in Lithuanian, {{lang|lgt|sāt·ā}} in Latgalian and {{lang|hu|ház·ban}} in Hungarian.
In Finnish the inessive case is typically formed by adding {{wikt-lang|fi|-ssa|-ssa/-ssä}}. Estonian adds {{lang|et|-s}} to the genitive stem. In Moksha {{lang|mdf|-са}} ({{transl|mdf|-sa}}) is added (in Erzya {{lang|myv|-со}} ({{transl|myv|-so}})). In Hungarian, the suffix {{lang|hu|ban/ben}} is most commonly used for inessive case, although many others, such as {{lang|hu|on/en/ön}} and others are also used, especially with cities.
In the Finnish language, the inessive case is considered the first (in Estonian the second) of the six locative cases, which correspond to locational prepositions in English. The remaining five cases are:
{{Wiktionary|inessive case}}
- Elative case ("out of")
- Illative case ("into")
- Allative case ("onto")
- Adessive case ("on")
- Ablative case ("from")
Finnish
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The Finnish language inessive uses the suffix {{lang|fi|-ssa}} or {{lang|fi|-ssä}} (depending on vowel harmony). It is usually added to nouns and associated adjectives.
It is used in the following ways:
- Expressing the static state of being in something.
::{{lang|fi|asumme Suomessa}} = we live in Finland
- (with time expressions) stating how long something took to be accomplished or done
:possible English translations include in, within
::{{lang|fi|kahdessa vuodessa}} = within 2 years, during 2 years
- when two things are closely connected
:English translations can include on in phrases of this type
::{{lang|fi|N.N. puhelimessa}} = N.N. on the phone {{cn|date=May 2021}}
::{{lang|fi|sormus on sormessani}} = the ring is on my finger
- as an existensial clause with the verb {{lang|fi|olla}} (to be), to express possession of objects
::{{lang|fi|sanomalehdessä on 68 sivua}} = the newspaper has 68 pages
- with the verb {{lang|fi|käydä}}, {{lang|fi|vierailla}}
::{{lang|fi|minä käyn baarissa}} = I visit the bar
::{{lang|fi|Käyn baareissa}} = I visit the bars
= Dialectal variants =
In a large part of the southwestern, south Ostrobothnian, southeastern as well as in some Tavastian dialects, the suffix is simply -s (e.g. maas, talos), similarly to Estonian. This is an example of apocope. When coupled with a possessive suffix, the result can be like in standard Finnish "maassani, talossani" or a shorter "maasani, talosani" depending on the dialect: the former is more common in Tavastian and southeastern dialects while the latter is more common in southwestern dialects.
Most central and northern Ostrobothnian dialects as well as some southwestern and Peräpohjola dialects use a shorter suffix -sa/-sä, e.g. maasa, talosa.{{Cite web|title=Inessiivin päätteet|url=http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/inessiiv.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512163104/http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/inessiiv.html|archive-date=May 12, 2021|access-date=July 12, 2022|website=sokl.uef.fi|language=fi}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last= Karlsson |first= Fred |year= 2018 |title= Finnish - A Comprehensive Grammar |location= London and New York |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-1-138-82104-0}}
- {{cite web |last= Anhava |first= Jaakko |year= 2015 |title= Criteria For Case Forms in Finnish and Hungarian Grammars |location= Helsinki |website= journal.fi |publisher= Finnish Scholarly Journals Online |url= https://journal.fi/store/article/view/52392/16242}}
{{Grammatical cases}}