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Vodholk case
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The thirteen classical cases of spoken Vodholk
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 17 Sep 2018, 06:07.
[comments] voksvokcasemorphologynarrative animacynarrative alignment
4. Vodholk case
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5. Vodholk phonology
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[Slightly out-of-date: Spelling convention of <t> for /θ/ (old: <th> or <þ>) , use of <ɂ ʔ '> /ʔ/, absense of /i ʉ/]Spoken Vodholk has 13 cases. Though cases are not fused with many other inflections (there is no gender in Vodholk, and number appears on the noun proper), five of the cases can be either antagonistic or protagonistic. This is called narrative animacy, and is used by the speaker to indicate whose side they're on, who they think is at fault, etc. The cases which can show narrative animacy are called the volitional cases.
Pronouns are often not marked for case, but they can be. This is a stylistic choice, and is more common in older speakers. Sometimes pronominal case is only used in instances where a speaker has been asked to clarify. Pronouns take the same case markers as nouns, with few exceptions. Nominal case is always used.
The case markings are shown here; further on, the meaning and usage of each case will be detailed.
| Volitional cases | Gloss | Protagonistic | Antagonistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | NOMNominative (case) TRANS subject, INTR argument | Ø | -o |
| Accusative | ACCAccusative (case) TRANS direct object; patient | -'e | -ok |
| Genitive | GENGenitive (case) possessive | -(e)th | -oth |
| Dative | DDirect case (case) unmarked case, vs. oblique | -pe | -op |
| Instrumental | INSInstrumental (case) 'with', 'using' | -(e)s | -os |
| Non-volitional cases | Gloss | Morpheme |
|---|---|---|
| Locative | LOCLocative (case) 'in, on, at' etc | -(a)k |
| Adessive | ADEAdessive (case) near/by | -(a)p |
| Elative | ELAElative (case) 'out of, from' | -(a)f |
| Allative | ALLAllative (case) 'to, onto' | -'a |
| Essive | ESSEssive (case) 'as, similar' | -(a)l |
| Vialis | VIAVialis (case) route, manner [along] | -lak |
| Stative | STATStative (case) attribute assignment | -kel |
| Comitative | COMComitative (case) 'together with' | -sos |
(The separation of 'volitional' and 'non-volitional' is something of a misnomer, as it is dubious at best whether or not a instrumental argument has any volition, and it is unlikely that a genitive's volition is actually important to the sentence. However, items marked with these cases do tend to be higher in the animacy hierarchy than others.)
The protagonistic nominative is unmarked; the antagonistic takes a simple -(k)o suffix. The nominative argument is generally the one performing the key action in the clause: 'I hit him.' If there is a nominative argument, the verb must agree with it.
The protagonistic accusative takes the marking -'e, while the antagonistic has -(')ok. The accusative argument is generally the one being directly affected by the key action: 'I hit him.'
efelo olk'e eskathethoea
human-NOM.ANTGAntagonistic (class, narrative alignment)
opposed to speaker orc-ACC PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech-raid-3PL-3PL 'the humans raided the orcs'
PROTGProtagonistic (class, narrative alignment)opposed to speaker orc-ACC PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech-raid-3PL-3PL 'the humans raided the orcs'
aligned with speaker -(e)th ANTGAntagonistic (class, narrative alignment)
opposed to speaker -oth The genitive is the possessive case. It is suffixed to the noun which owns another argument, which will also have a case of its own. Unlike in English, the possessor usually follows its possession.
ékeo theketh pepeth
baby.SG 3SG-GEN cute-3SG
'his baby is cute'
paopo ákelth keth thlakath
dog-NOM.ANTG parent.SG-GEN 1SG-GEN misbehave-3SG.NOM
'my parent's dog misbehaves'
PROTG -pe
ANTG -op
The dative is an infrequently-used case and is nearly-extinct, being pushed out by the allative case. It is mainly used by older speakers. Where it is used it mainly refers to the recipient or destination of an object, or occasionally of speech.
epsé'e ákelpe ekoslokea
flower.PL-ACC parent.SG-DAT PL-send-1SG.NOM-3PL
'I sent flowers to my parent'
opkol e'elalthosal eathópe
seal-PL PST-speak-3PL-4PL god.PL-DAT
'the seals spoke to the gods'
PROTG -(a)s
ANTG -(s)os
Instrumentals are tools; something used by the agent to achieve the action. Besides physical tools or weapons this can also refer to mental concepts such as advice or intellect.
po'aps lolka'e 'ek'ekath
hammer-INS nail-ACC hit-1SG.NOM-3SG
'I hit the nail with the hammer'
sel safe'e koláthes poth e'esfeskas
OBVObviative (person, proximity)
not near/visible/important house-ACC plan-NMZNominaliser
makes other word a noun.PL-INS 2SG-GEN PST-build-1SG.NOM-4Fourth person (person)
obviative, not presentSG 'I used your plans to build a house'
-(a)k
The locative case is put on location nouns to indicate that an action takes place in, at, on, or overtop of said place. It can also be used to specify the time at which something takes place.
not near/visible/important house-ACC plan-NMZNominaliser
makes other word a noun.PL-INS 2SG-GEN PST-build-1SG.NOM-4Fourth person (person)
obviative, not presentSG 'I used your plans to build a house'
lekak áeako ethekthas
hill-LOC bear.SG there-3SG-4SG
'the bear is on the hill'
thelés thal'okak 'asofolethoas
cloud.PL village-LOC fly-DIMDiminutive
a smaller, lesser, weaker etc. version-3PL-4SG 'the clouds float over the village' 'oaskop eos kalthosak see-1SG-2SG FUT tomorrow-LOC 'I'll see you tomorrow'
-(a)p
The adessive is used to indicate something the action takes place near or underneath.
a smaller, lesser, weaker etc. version-3PL-4SG 'the clouds float over the village' 'oaskop eos kalthosak see-1SG-2SG FUT tomorrow-LOC 'I'll see you tomorrow'
aésa elo'ethas 'osk'ap thopoth
child.SG PST-run-3SG-4SG edge-ADE cliff-GEN
'the child ran near the edge of the cliff'
kolsep eposthas kála
table-ADE PST-hide-3SG-4SG cat.SG
'the cat hid under the table'
-(a)f
The elative case indicates the beginning point of an action, the source of a quality, or the topic of a book/ idea/ etc.
e'althokas thál'okaf
PST-come-1SG-4SG village-ELA
'I came from the village'
pleka'e Pelpef kaefeath
story-ACC Belbe-ELA know-12First person inclusive (person)
speaker and addressee; you and me/usPL-3SG 'We all know the story of Belbe.'
-'a
The allative marks action towards a place, or the end point of the action, or the recipient of a quality. It is also beginning to mark the recipient of an object, thus usurping the dative's purpose.
-(a)l
Essive indicates similarity between two nouns. It can also be used to specify the duration for how long an action occurs.
speaker and addressee; you and me/usPL-3SG 'We all know the story of Belbe.'
kaesa thafel poth thathal fé'kath fe'ethoalth
neck jewellery-ESS 2SG-GEN teeth-ESS shark.SG-GEN look.like-3PL-REFL
'your necklace looks like a shark tooth'
e'ethekas thelel
PST-be.there-1SG-4SG year-ESS
'I was there for a year'
-lak
Vialis marks the route an action takes, or sometimes the method of transportation, or an action through another object or location.
-kel
The stative marks attributed states and is used in conjunction with adjectival copular verbs. It is also used to indicate arguments which relate to one another as a sort of 'formal genitive.'
-sos
The comitative indicates accompaniment or interpersonal social actions. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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