Votian/Internal Locative Cases

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Internal locative cases ^[1]

Case	Suffix	Question
Inessive	-ssa	kuza , minezä , tšenezä
Elative	-sta	kussa , minessä , tšenessä
Illative	-sen	kuhē̮ , mihē ~ minēsē , tšenēsē

The suffixes of all the internal locative cases are composed of different directional suffixes following an -s component, which indicates a location in something

*-s + -na 'being in a certain situation' > -ssa
*-s + -n 'towards' > -sen
*-s + -ta 'away from' > -sta

The -s component of all the internal locative cases has probably the same origin as the lative suffix -s of some adverbs: üle-z ('up'), aлa-z ('down'), taga-z ('back') ^[2].

Pronunciation

Inessive -ssa morpheme

is generally pronounced as
1. -zä, -za ( depending in vowel harmony ) both in singular and plural e.g. pezä-zä ('in the nest'), mā-za ('in the ground'), mai-za ('in various countries'), tšülī-zä (' in villages ')
the vowel of this morpheme may be omitted depending in it's position in a sentence (especially in Jõgõperä dialect) .
1. -z e.g. pēnepäz ̮ rihezä on лauta ('There is a table in the smaller room.'), eglē e̮limma lidnaz ('We were in the city yesterday.' The word "e̮limma" is stressed. vs. e̮limma lidnaza ='We were in the city (not in a village).').
The inessive suffix may be pronounced -s or -š caused by sandhi
1. e.g. kureaš ̮ tšäezä ('in the left hand' - in front of a voiceless consonant).

Elative -sta morpheme

has went through the Votic sound change * st > ss like partitive and is pronounced
1. -ssä, -ssa ( depending in vowel harmony ) e.g. mehe-ssä ('from a man'), akkuna-ssa ('from a window')
the vowel of this morpheme may be omitted depending in it's position in a sentence (especially in Jõgõperä dialect).
1. -s̄ e.g. tämä akkunas̄ rǟgahtī ('She shouted from the window.'), ajan e̮mas̄̄ kōssa vällǟ ('I shall expell (her) from my house.')

Pronunciation of the illative -sen morpheme has dialectal and individual peculiarities, but generally:

the final -n became a prolongation of the preceding vowel like in genitive
s has been preserved as h after a primary stress only. The stressed vowel has contracted.
1. -hē, -hē̮ ( depending in vowel harmony ) e.g. sō + sen > sohē̮ ('into a swamp'), ȫ + sen > öhē ('into the night'), sū + sen > suhē̮ ('into mouth'), jǟ + sen > jähē ('into ice')
e assimilated with the stem vowel in some dialects
1. e.g. mā + sen > *māhen > mahā ('into the ground' is usual in all dialects), pǟ + sen > pähǟ ('into the head')
after a short vowel without a primary stress there is nothing left of the illative suffix but a prolongation of the preceding vowel
1. e.g. se̮ta + sen > se̮tā ('into a war'), kahtšizikko + sen > kahtšizikkō ('into a birch forest')
after a long vowel without a primary stress the illative suffix is pronounced as -sē, -sē̮ ( depending in vowel harmony )
1. e.g. tširvē + sen > tširvēsē ('into an ax'), ōnē̮ + sen > ōnē̮sē̮ ('into a building')
-sē, -sē̮ may be omitted after a long vowel without a primary stress
1. e.g. tširvē + sen > tširvē ('into an ax'), ōnē̮ + sen > ōnē̮ ('into a building')
-sē, -sē̮ may be added as a duplicate
1. e.g. se̮ta + sen > se̮tāsē̮ ('into a war'), kahtšizikko + sen > kahtšizikkōsē̮ ('into a birch forest'), mā + sen > mahāsē̮ ('into the ground'), pǟ + sen > pähǟsē ('into the head'), sō + sen > sohē̮sē̮ ('into a swamp'), ȫ + sen > ȫhēsē ('into the night'), sū + sen > suhē̮sē̮ ('into mouth'), jǟ + sen > jähēsē ('into ice')
There has been a special plural counterpart -sī for the emphatic illative suffixes -sē, -sē̮ ^[3] ^[4] e.g. Kõrvõttula dialect pē̮sa-i-sī ('into bushes').
1. Usually ( depending in vowel harmony ) -sē or -sē̮ is used both in singular and plural.
-sē, -sē̮ may be used for any plural stem
1. e.g. maisē̮ ('into countries'), vasaroisē̮ ('into hammers'), lintuisē̮ ('into birds'), pehmeisē ~ pehmīsē ('into soft ones'), sūre̮pīsē̮ ('into bigger ones')

Morphophonology

Inessive -ssa

Any single consonant of a stem with an inessive suffix is in a grade opposite to singular nominative, caused by consonant gradation in stems. E.g.
1. pāza ('in a pot') vs. pata ( singular nominative ), orgoza ('in a valley') vs. orko ( singular nominative ), kravuza ('in a crab') vs. krapu ( singular nominative ), izäzä ('in a father') vs. isä ( singular nominative ).
Consonant clusters and geminates of a stem with an inessive suffix are always in the strong grade. E.g.
1. hs - лahse̮za ('in a child').
2. ss - mussaza ('in the black one').
3. kk - ve̮rkkoza ('in a net'), лuzikkaza ('in a spoon ').
4. pp - rōppaza ('in a porridge').
5. tt - лauttaza ('in a byre').
6. tts - kammittsaza ('in a hobble '), mettsäzä ('in a forest ').
7. ttš - lühzettšizä ('in a milk-pail '), pittšäzä ('in a long one ').

Elative -sta

Singular elative is usually in a grade opposite to singular nominative, caused by consonant gradation in stems e.g. jaлka ('leg' singular nominative) vs. jaлgassa ( singular elative ), uhsi ('door' singular nominative) vs. uhze̮s̄ ( singular elative ), ammaz (' tooth' singular nominative) vs. ampāssa ( singular elative ) .

illative -sen

Illative is always in the strong grade e.g. rataz ('wheel' singular nominative) vs. rattāsē̮ ( singular illative ), ve̮rkoD ('net' plural nominative) vs. ve̮rkkōsē̮ ( singular illative ) .

A plural stem is usually in the strong grade, if there is such a grade available e.g. ve̮rkossa ('net' singular elative ) < ve̮rkkoissa ( plural elative ).

A single consonant may be geminated in front of a long vowel in some dialects e.g. tšättē ~ tšättè ('hand' singular illative Jõgõperä dialect ), eл̆лōsē̮ ('life' singular illative Mati dialect ), tar̆rē̮sē̮G ('sauna' singular illative Itšäpäivä dialect ).

Usage

Inessive -ssa

duration time - e.g. siä e̮maz ̮ iäz ̮ ed ̮ ehi hukata ('You cannot spend (the wealth) in your lifetime .'), ke̮лme̮za päiväzä tetši vaлmīssi ('She made it ready in three days.')
location in something - e.g. mettsäzä näin pe̮drā ('I saw a moose in the forest.')
location in contact with somebody - e.g. pojoллa on kauniš ̮ tšiutto selläzä ('The boy has a red shirt on.')
location in influence of somebody - e.g. kuivattagā kaлat ̮ päivǖz ('Dry the fish in the sun.'), kahs se̮rme̮a tšämmälezä ('Two fingers pressed into the palm.'), sūr mato on лukkoza ('The big snake is locked in.'), se be̮ллu vēlä naiziza ('He was not married yet.'), kuллā voimaza ('In the blaze of gold.'), mād ̮ on ke̮лme̮za nurme̮za ('The whole land is devided between three fields.')
location in an action (occupation) - e.g. лahze̮d ̮ e̮livad obahkaza ('Kids were picking mushrooms.'), e̮limma kōminaza tappamaza ('We were threshing in a barn.'), kuza e̮лe̮t ̮ tȫzä ('Where are you working.')
location with jǟ-min verb ("to remain somewhere") - e.g. mīл kīzaz ̮ on jɛänü me̮nikkai paлoi ('There have been some bits remained in my neck-sack.' Lempola dialect).
1. More common is 'illative like in Finnish and Estonian. - e.g. jäi kotō ('It remained at home.').

Inessive has produced some adverbs - e.g. лukko-za ("locked" ), naiziza ("married"), umaлaza ("drunk")

Elative -sta

time
1. time of origin or a start - e.g. tšǟppä on švēdā aigassa ('The tumulus is from the Swedish era.'), senessä päivässä ('Since that day..').
2. time which has passed by - e.g. päivässä päivǟsē ōttē̮n poigaлta tširjā ('Day after day I am waiting a letter from my son.')
relocation from (interior of) something - e.g. ve̮ta ve̮rkossa kaлaD (" Take fish from the net. "), saksaлain aje̮ttī med́d́ē māssa vällǟ (" The German (army) was expelled from our country. "), tämä pake̮ni vällǟ mehessä (" She fled away from her husband. " Mati dialect ), nämä pake̮nivad ̮ zvierīssä (" They fled away from wild animals. " Lempola dialect)
origin or material - e.g. pata on tehtü savve̮ssa ('The pot is made of clay.'), лe̮ŋka on viллassa ('The yarn is made of wool .')
through - e.g. tämä tuli uhze̮s̄ akkunnaллe̮ (" He came out to the garden from the door. "), ampu püsüssä (' He shot a gun.')
break the contact with something - e.g. se̮rmuhsē̮ tšäjes̄ ve̮tan ('I take a ring off from my hand.'), šnurka katke̮zi kukšinassa ('The string broke off from a mug .')
something grasped - e.g. i ve̮tti tütärt tšäes̄ tšīn ('And he took a hand of his daughter.' Lempola dialect), jäi ännässä tšīni (' It stucked by it's tail.' ), koira puri лassa jaлgassa (' A dog bit the leg of the child .')
the whole which is divided - e.g. ühsi nōrissa (" one of youngsters "), tämä e̮li aivō mūdra te̮isīs̄ vellīs̄ (' He was the rather smart one among the other brothers.'), naiz-eлokois̄ on kotona m a ŕ o (' There are no women at home but Mary.')
topic - e.g. tämä paja̮ttī med́d́ē tšülǟ pe̮лossa (" She spoke about the burning of our village. ")
something payed - e.g. ante̮ rubĺà deŋgoit pillissä (" She gave a rouble for that musical instrument. "), sain tȫssä üvǟ paлkā (" I got a good salary for my work. ")

Illative -sen

1. time of occurrence - e.g. vanā aikā elimmä pazgassi ('Old times we were living bad.'), se e̮li ēlmuinā ('It happened times ago.'), koлxozā aikā ('At the time of the Soviet collective farm ...'), päivässä päivǟsē ōttē̮n poigaлta tširjā ('Day after day I am waiting a letter from my son..')
into (relocation to another position) - e.g. pane̮ leipä värttsīsē (" Put the bread into the bag. "), pojod ̮ menivät ̮ te̮isē̮ tšülǟsē (" Boys went to another village. "), lehmät ̮ tulivad ̮ mettsǟsē (" Cows came to the forest. "), vare̮z ̮ lentī puhē̮ (" A crow flew to the tree. "), tämä meni e̮ike̮ ̨ ā tšätēsē (" She went to the right. "), soлdatti meni kāppī (" The soldier went near to the cupboard. ")
visiting a certain place frequently - e.g. tämä tšäüsi lidnā (" She used to go in the city. ") vs. tämä tšäüsi lidnaza (" She went to the city once. ")
getting into contact with something - e.g. lein varpā tšivēsē (" I hit my toe to a rock. "), ratkazin nagлāsē̮ se̮rmē̮ (" I hit my finger to a nail. "), pane̮ šlǟppi pähē (" Put your hat on. "), issū ope̮ze̮лē̮ seltšǟ (" Sit on the horseback. ")
getting into an action (occupation) - e.g. naizikod ̮ meniväd mettsǟ marjāsē̮ ('Women went into the forest to pick berries.'), karjušši trubitti i meni karjā ('The shepherd blew his horn and went to guard the cattle.'), kuhē̮ menet ̮ töhē ? ('Where will you go to work?'), mentī tšäümǟsē ('They went to wooing.'), vaлmissua se̮tāsē̮ ( ' to prepare for a war '), umalikkād ̮ mehed ̮ evät ̮ ke̮лpā töhē ( ' Drunk men are not suitable for a work. ')
getting into influence of something - e.g. mȫ jäimmä pimi ̨ ǟsē ('We were caught by darkness.'), tšenēsē on poika ? ('Whom does the boy look (behave) like?')

Dialectal alternatives

Votic of Ingria
- Eastern Votic dialect
  - A single consonant may be geminated in front of a long vowel in some dialects.
    - tar̆rē̮sē̮G ('sauna' singular illative Itšäpäivä dialect ).
  - The illative suffix has an additional lative k ^[5].
    - -sēG, -sē̮G etc. e.g. mettsǟsēG ('into a forest'), pīmǟsēG (' into milk ')
- Western
  - Hill dialect:
    - Kattila dialect
      - An emphatic illative suffix may be added to allative .
        -lēsē, -лē̮sē̮ e.g. emä-lēsē ('to the mother'), siллa-лē̮sē̮ ('onto the floor')
      - The final long vowel (of the emphatic illative suffix) may be shortened.
        -se, -se̮ e.g. tšätese ('into the hand'), lidnāse̮ ('into the city')
  - Valley dialect:
    - A single consonant may be geminated in front of a long vowel in some dialects.
      - eл̆лōsē̮ ('life' singular illative Mati dialect )
  - Vaipooli
    - A single consonant may be geminated in front of a long vowel in some dialects.
      - tšättē ~ tšättè ('hand' singular illative Jõgõperä dialect )
    - Jõgõperä dialect
      - The final long vowel (of the illative suffix) has not the full length any more.
        -sè, -sè̮̮ etc. e.g. ma-hà ('into the ground'), kattiл-à (' into a kettle '), eлò-sè̮ (' into the life ')
      - The vowel of the inessive suffix may be -e, -e̮ .
        -ze, -ze̮ e.g. tšülä-ze ('in a village'), jaлge̮-ze̮ ('in feet')
      - The vowel of the elative suffix may be -e, -e̮ .
        -sse, -sse̮ e.g. kāpi-sse̮ ('from a cupboard'), silmī-sse ('from eyes')

References

↑ Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 26-30
↑ Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p. 102
↑ Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 46
↑ Ahlqvist A. Wotisk grammatik jemte språkprof och ordförteckning. — Helsinki, 1856.
↑ Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 26

Internal locative cases [1]