Introduction to the ablative case from a 1903 Latin textbook
In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced /ˈæblətɪv/AB-lə-tiv; sometimes abbreviatedabl) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages. It is used to indicate motion away from something, make comparisons, and serve various other purposes. The word "ablative" derives from the Latinablatus, the (suppletive) perfect, passive participle of auferre "to carry away".[1]
The ablative case in Latin (cāsus ablātīvus) appears in various grammatical constructions, including following various prepositions, in an ablative absolute clause, and adverbially. The Latin ablative case was derived[2] from three Proto-Indo-European cases: ablative (from), instrumental (with), and locative (in/at).
Greek
In Ancient Greek, there was an ablative case (ἀφαιρετικὴ πτῶσιςaphairetikē ptōsis) which was used in the Homeric, pre-Mycenaean, and Mycenean periods. It fell into disuse during the classical period and thereafter with some of its functions taken by the genitive and others by the dative.[3] The genitive case with the prepositions ἀπόapó'away from' and ἐκ/ἐξek/ex'out of' is an example.
German
German does not have an ablative case but, exceptionally, Latin ablative case-forms were used from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century after some prepositions, for example after von in von dem Nomine: ablative of the Latin loanword nomen. Grammarians at that time, Justus Georg Schottel, Kaspar von Stieler, Johann Balthasar von Antesperg and Johann Christoph Gottsched, listed an ablative case (as the sixth case after nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and vocative) for German words. They arbitrarily considered the dative case after some prepositions to be an ablative, as in von dem Mann[e]'from the man, of the man' and mit dem Mann[e]'with the man', while they considered the dative case after other prepositions or without a preposition, as in dem Mann[e], to be a dative.
Albanian
The ablative case is found in Albanian; it is the fifth case, rasa rrjedhore.
Sanskrit
In Sanskrit, the ablative case is the fifth case (pañcamī) and has a similar function to that in Latin. Sanskrit nouns in the ablative often refer to a subject "out of" which or "from" whom something (an action, an object) has arisen or occurred: pátram vṛkṣā́t pátati'the leaf falls from the tree'. It is also used for nouns in several other senses, as for actions occurring "because of" or "without" a certain noun, indicating distance or direction. When it appears with a comparative adjective, (śreṣṭhatamam'the best'), the ablative is used to refer to what the adjective is comparing: 'better than X'.
Armenian
The modern Armenian ablative has different markers for each main dialect, both originating from Classical Armenian. The Western Armenian affix -է-ē (definite -էն-ēn) derives from the classical singular; the Eastern Armenian affix -ից-ic’ (both indefinite and definite) derives from the classical plural. For both dialects, those affixes are singular, with the corresponding plurals being -(ն)երէ(ն)-(n)erē(n) and -(ն)երից-(n)eric’.
The ablative case has several uses. Its principal function is to show "motion away" from a location, point in space or time:
Western
Eastern
Gloss
քաղաքէն
k’aġak’ēn
եկայ
yega
քաղաքէն եկայ
k’aġak’ēn yega
քաղաքից
k’aġak’ic’
եկա
yeka
քաղաքից եկա
k’aġak’ic’ yeka
I came from the city
այստեղէն
aysdeġēn
հեռու
heṙu
կը
gě
բնակէի
pnagēi
այստեղէն հեռու կը բնակէի
aysdeġēn heṙu gě pnagēi
այստեղից
aysteġic’
հեռու
heṙu
էի
ēi
բնակվում
bnakvum
այստեղից հեռու էի բնակվում
aysteġic’ heṙu ēi bnakvum
I used to live far from here
It also shows the agent when it is used with the passive voice of the verb:
Western
Eastern
Gloss
ինծմէ
incmē
միշտ
mišd
կը
gě
սիրուէիր
sirvēir
ինծմէ միշտ կը սիրուէիր
incmē mišd gě sirvēir
ինձնից
injnic’
միշտ
mišt
սիրվում
sirvum
էիր
ēir
ինձնից միշտ սիրվում էիր
injnic’ mišt sirvum ēir
You were always loved by me.
ազատիչներէն
azadič’nerēn
ազատեցանք
azadec’ank’
ազատիչներէն ազատեցանք
azadič’nerēn azadec’ank’
ազատիչներից
azatič’neric’
ազատվեցինք
azatvec’ink’
ազատիչներից ազատվեցինք
azatič’neric’ azatvec’ink’
We were freed by the liberators.
It is also used for comparative statements in colloquial Armenian (including infinitives and participles):
Western
Eastern
Gloss
Ի՞նչ
Inč’
մեղրէն
meġrēn
անուշ
anuš
է
ē
Ի՞նչ մեղրէն անուշ է
Inč’ meġrēn anuš ē
Ի՞նչն
Inč’n
է
ē
մեղրից
meġric’
անուշ
anuš
Ի՞նչն է մեղրից անուշ
Inč’n ē meġric’ anuš
"What is sweeter than honey?" (proverb)
Մարիամ
Mariam
եղբօրմէն
yeġpōrmēn
պզտիկ
bzdig
է
ē
Մարիամ եղբօրմէն պզտիկ է
Mariam yeġpōrmēn bzdig ē
Մարիամն
Mariamn
եղբորից
yeġboric’
փոքր
p’ok’r
է
ē
Մարիամն եղբորից փոքր է
Mariamn yeġboric’ p’ok’r ē
Mary is younger (lit. smaller) than her brother
թզեր
t’ëzer
համտեսել
hamdesel
տեսնելէ
desnelē
աւելի
aveli
լաւ
lav
է
ē
թզեր համտեսել տեսնելէ աւելի լաւ է
t’ëzer hamdesel desnelē aveli lav ē
թուզ
t’uz
համտեսելը
hamteselë
տեսնելուց
tesneluc’
լավ
lav
է
ē
թուզ համտեսելը տեսնելուց լավ է
t’uz hamteselë tesneluc’ lav ē
Figs are better to taste than to see
Finally, it governs certain postpositions:
Western
Eastern
Gloss
ինծմէ
incmē
վար
var
ինծմէ վար
incmē var
ինձնից
indznic’
վար
var
ինձնից վար
indznic’ var
below me
քեզմէ
k’ezmē
վեր
ver
քեզմէ վեր
k’ezmē ver
քեզնից
k’eznic’
վեր
ver
քեզնից վեր
k’eznic’ ver
above you
անոնցմէ
anonc’mē
ետք
yedk’
անոնցմէ ետք
anonc’mē yedk’
նրանցից
nranc’ic’
հետո
heto
նրանցից հետո
nranc’ic’ heto
after them
մեզմէ
mezmē
առաջ
aṙač
մեզմէ առաջ
mezmē aṙač
մեզնից
meznic’
առաջ
aṙadž
մեզնից առաջ
meznic’ aṙadž
before us
Uralic languages
Finnish
In Finnish, the ablative case is the sixth of the locative cases with the meaning "from, off, of": pöytä – pöydältä "table – off from the table". It is an outer locative case, used like the adessive and allative cases, to denote both being on top of something and "being around the place" (as opposed to the inner locative case, the elative, which means "from out of" or "from the inside of"). With the locative, the receding object was near the other place or object, not inside it.
The Finnish ablative is also used in time expressions to indicate times of something happening (kymmeneltä "at ten") as well as with verbs expressing feelings or emotions.
The Finnish ablative has the ending -lta or -ltä, depending on vowel harmony.
Usage
away from a place
katolta: off the roof
pöydältä: off the table
rannalta: from the beach
maalta: from the land
mereltä: from the sea
from a person, object or other entity
häneltä: from him/her/them
with the verb lähteä (stop)
lähteä tupakalta: stop smoking (in the sense of putting out the cigarette one is smoking now, lit. 'leave from the tobacco')
lähteä hippasilta: stop playing tag (hippa=tag, olla hippasilla=playing tag)
to smell/taste/feel/look/sound like something
haisee pahalta: smells bad
maistuu hyvältä: tastes good
tuntuu kamalalta: feels awful
näyttää tyhmältä: looks stupid
kuulostaa mukavalta: sounds nice
Estonian
The ablative case in Estonian is the ninth case and has a similar function to that in Hungarian.
Hungarian
The ablative case in Hungarian is used to describe movement away from, as well as a concept, object, act or event originating from an object, person, location or entity. For example, one walking away from a friend who gave him a gift could say the following:
a barátomtól jövök (I am coming (away) from my friend).
a barátomtól kaptam egy ajándékot (I got a gift from my friend).
When used to describe movement away from a location, the case may only refer to movement from the general vicinity of the location and not from inside of it. Thus, a postától jövök would mean one had been standing next to the post office before, not inside the building.
When the case is used to refer to the origin of a possible act or event, the act/event may be implied while not explicitly stated, such as Meg foglak védeni a rablótól: I will defend you from the robber.
The application of vowel harmony gives two different suffixes: -tól and -től. These are applied to back-vowel and front-vowel words, respectively.
Hungarian has a narrower delative case, similar to ablative, but more specific: movement off/from a surface of something, with suffixes -ról and -ről.
Turkic languages
Azerbaijani
The ablative in Azerbaijani (çıxışlıq hal) is expressed through the suffixes -dan or -dən:
ev
house
ev-dən
house-ABL
ev ev-dən
house house-ABL
'house' 'from/off the house'
aparmaq
carry
aparmaq-dan
carry-ABL
aparmaq aparmaq-dan
carry carry-ABL
'to carry' 'from/off carrying'
Tatar
The ablative in Tatar (чыгыш килеше) is expressed through the suffixes -дан,-дән, -тан, -тән, -нан, or -нән:
өй
öy
house
өй-дән
öydän
house-ABL
өй өй-дән
öy öydän
house house-ABL
'house' 'from/off the house'
Turkish
The ablative in Turkish (-den hali or ayrılma hali) is expressed through the suffix -den (which changes to -dan, -ten, or -tan to accommodate the vowel and voicing harmony):
ev
house
ev-den
house-ABL
ev ev-den
house house-ABL
'house' 'from/off the house'
at
horse
at-tan
horse-ABL
at at-tan
horse horse-ABL
'horse' 'from/off the horse'
taşımak
carry
taşımak-tan
carry-ABL
taşımak taşımak-tan
carry carry-ABL
'to carry' 'from/off the horse'
ses
volume
ses-ten
volume-ABL
ses ses-ten
volume volume-ABL
'sound/volume' 'from/off sound/volume'
In some situations simple ablative can have a "because of" meaning; in these situations, ablative can be optionally followed by the postposition dolayı'because of'.
Yüksek
high
sesten
volume
(dolayı)
(because.of)
rahatsız
uneasy
oldum.
be.1.SG.PST.PFV.IND
Yüksek sesten (dolayı) rahatsız oldum.
high volume (because.of) uneasy be.1.SG.PST.PFV.IND
I was uneasy because of high volume.
Tungusic
Manchu
The ablative in Manchu is expressed through the suffix -ci and can also be used to express comparisons. It is usually not directly attached to its parent word.
boo-ci
house-ABL
tuci-ke
go.away-PAST
boo-ci tuci-ke
house-ABL go.away-PAST
"(Someone) went away from the house"
Evenki
The ablative in Evenki is expressed with the suffix -duk.
