Loading AI tools
Grammar of the Livonian language From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Livonian is a Finnic language, and, as such, is closely related to both Estonian and Finnish.
Livonian is a pitch accent language. It has a broken tone that can appear in words. The broken tone is marked with a '.[1]
lēḑ ‘sphere’ | lē’ḑ ‘leaf’ |
nīņ ‘bark strip’ | nī’ņ ‘wide belt’ |
mō ‘earth’ | mō’ ‘down; earthwards’ |
ūdõ ‘to fry’ | ū’dõ ‘to strain’ |
pūstõ ‘tree (elat. sg.)’ | pū’stõ ‘to clean’ |
Singular | |||
---|---|---|---|
First Person ("I") | Second Person ("You") | Third Person ("He" or "She") | |
Nominative | minā/ma | sinā/sa | tämā/ta |
Genitive | min | sin | täm |
Dative | minnõn | sinnõn | tämmõn |
Translative | minkõks | sinkõks | tämkõks |
Partitive | mīnda | sīnda | tǟnda |
Inessive | mins/minšõ | sins/sinšõ | täms/tamšõ |
Elative | minst/minstõ | sinst/sinstõ | tämst/tämstõ |
Illative | minnõ | sinnõ | tämmõ |
Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|
First Person ("We") | Second Person ("You") | Third Person ("They") | |
Nominative | mēg | tēg | ne |
Genitive | mäd | täd | nänt |
Dative | mäddõn | täddõn | näntõn |
Translative | mätkõks | tätkõks | näntkõks |
Partitive | mēḑi | tēḑi | nēḑi |
Inessive | mēšši | tēšši | nēšši |
Elative | mēšti | tēšti | nēšti |
Illative | mēži | tēži | nēži |
Note: the third person pronouns do not possess a gender in the singular or the plural.
Singular ("this, this one") | Plural ("these, these ones") | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | sīe/se | ne |
Genitive | sīe/se | nänt |
Dative | sīen | näntõn |
Translative | sīeks/sīekõks | näntkõks |
Partitive | sīeda | nēḑi |
Inessive | sīes/sīessõ | nẽšši |
Elative | sīest/sīestõ | nēšti |
Illative | sīezõ | nēži |
Note: The plural demonstrative pronoun is the same as the third person plural personal pronoun.
Singular ("myself, yourself, oneself") | Plural ("ourselves, yourself/ves, themselves") | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | iž | iž |
Genitive | eņtš | eņtš |
Dative | eņtšõn | eņtšõn |
Translative | eņtšõks | eņtšōdõks |
Partitive | eņtšta | eņtšidi |
Inessive | eņtšõs | eņtšis |
Elative | eņtšõst | eņtšist |
Illative | eņtšõ(z) | eņtšiz |
Note: The usage of the reflexive pronoun is broad. Of course, it is used as a reflexive pronoun as in "minnõn eņtšõn um vajag...," meaning "I need..." [lit: to myself is necessary...]. However, the pronoun can also express possession; it frequently replaces the genitive forms of the personal pronouns. For example: "ma sīeda kūliz eņtš izast", or "I heard it from my father." Also, reflexive pronouns can be used in adverbial expressions: "täm eņtš ie", "this same night".
The following are the cases in Livonian:[1]
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | -∅ | -t -d -õd |
Genitive | -∅ | -t -d -õd |
Partitive | -tā -dā -ța -ta -da -tõ -dõ -õ -∅ |
-ți -ḑi -ti -di -i |
Dative | -n -õn |
-ddõn -dõn -tõn -õdõn |
Instrumental | -kõks -ks -õks |
-dkõks -tkõks -dõks -tõks |
Translative | -ks | |
Illative | -zõ -(õ)z |
-ži -īž -iž -ž -īz -iz |
Inessive | -š(õ) -s(õ) -õs(õ) |
-ši -īs -is |
Elative | -št(õ) -st(õ) -õst(õ) |
-šti -īst -ist |
Instructive | -īņ -iņ | |
Allative | -l(õ) -õl |
-il -iļ[2] |
Adessive | -l(õ) -õl |
-il -iļ[2] |
Ablative | -ld(õ(st)) -õld |
-iļd[2] |
Abessive | -tõ | |
Lative | -j -jõ |
|
Essive | -nõ -n |
|
Exessive | -ndõ(st) |
Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | līvli | - | līvlizt | -t |
Genitive | līvliz | - | līvlizt | -t |
Partitive | līvliztõ | -tõ | līvliži | -i |
Dative | līvlizõn | -õn | līvliztõn | -tõn |
Instrumental | līvlizõks | -õks | līvliztõks | -tõks |
Illative | līvlizõ | -õ | līvližiz | -iz |
Inessive | līvlizõs | -õs | līvližis | -is |
Elative | līvlizõst | -õst | līvližist | -ist |
Singular | Plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ve’ž | - | viedūd | -d |
Genitive | vie’d | - | viedūd | -d |
Partitive | vietā | -tā | vežži | -i |
Dative | vie’ddõn | -õn | viedūdõn | -dõn |
Instrumental | vie’dkõks | -kõks | viedūdõks | -dõks |
Illative | vie’ddõ | -õ | vežīz | -īz |
Inessive | vie’dsõ | -sõ | vežīs | -īs |
Elative | vie’dstõ | -stõ | vežīst | -īst |
The following are the moods in Livonian:[1]
Mood and Tense | Person | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|---|
Indicative (present tense) | 1 | -b -õb — | -mõ -m -õm |
2 | -d -õd | -tõ -t -õt | |
3 | -b -õb — | -bõd -õbõd -āt(õ) | |
Indicative (past tense) | 1 | -, (comma indicates palatalization of final consonant) -i -īz -iz -ž -kš | -,mõ -imõ -īzmõ -izmõ -žmõ -kšmõ |
2 | -,d -id -īzt -izt -žt -št | -,t(õ) -it(õ) -īzt(õ) -izt(õ) -žt(õ) -kšt(õ) | |
3 | -, -id -īz -iz -ž -kš | -,t(õ) -it(õ) -īzt(õ) -izt(õ) -žt(õ) -kšt(õ) | |
Conditional | 1 | -ks -õks | -kstõ -õkstõ |
2 | -kst -õkst | -kstõ -õkstõ | |
-ks -õks | -kstõ -õkstõ | ||
Imperative | 1 | -gõm -õgõm -kkõm -kõm | |
2 | – | -gīd -gid -õgid -kkõd -kõd | |
Quotative | 1–3 | -i -ji -iji | -id -jid -ijid |
Jussive | 1–3 | -gõ -g |-õg -kkõ -kõ | -gõd -õgõd -kkõd -kõd |