The jussive (abbreviatedJUS) is a grammatical mood of verbs for issuing orders, commanding, or exhorting (within a subjunctive framework). English verbs are not marked for this mood. The mood is similar to the cohortative mood, which typically applies to the first person by appeal to the object's duties and obligations,[citation needed] and the imperative, which applies to the second person (by command). The jussive however typically covers the first and third persons.[1] It can also apply to orders by their author's wish in the mandative subjunctive, as in the English, "The bank insists that she repay her debt."
Examples
Arabic
Classical and Standard Arabic verbs conjugate for at least three distinct moods in the imperfect: indicative, subjunctive and jussive.[2]
The jussive is used after the preposition li- (ليـ-, 'to') to express a command to a third person.
ليفعله
li-yaf‘al-hu
to-do.JUS.3SG.MASC-it
li-yaf‘al-hu
to-do.JUS.3SG.MASC-it
'Have him do it.'
A further use of this mood is in negative commands.[2]
لا تأخذ ذلك اللحم
lā
not
ta’xudh
take.JUS.2SG.MASC
dhālika
that
l-laḥm
the-meat
lā ta’xudh dhālika l-laḥm
not take.JUS.2SG.MASC that the-meat
'Don't take that meat.'
The jussive form is also used in past tense sentences negated by lamلم (but not māما).[2]
لم تأكل الدجاج
lam
not.PAST
ta’kuli
eat.JUS.3SG.FEM
d-dajāj
the-chicken
lam ta’kuli d-dajāj
not.PAST eat.JUS.3SG.FEM the-chicken
'She didn't eat the chicken.'
Esperanto
The jussive mood can be expressed in Esperanto using the volitive verb form, which is made by adding -u to a verb stem.
Iru! (Go!)
Mi petis, ke li venu. (I asked him to come.)
Li parolu. (Let him speak.)
Ni iru. (Let's go.)
Mia filino belu! (May my daughter be beautiful!)
Finnish
While there is a separate imperative form in Finnish, the jussive mood is used for the third person, where the imperative is not suitable. The jussive's ending is -koon ~ -köön in the singular and -koot ~ -kööt in the plural. The jussive can be used to express speakers' positions or opinions that somebody is allowed to do something or that somebody is expected to do something.
Eläköön!
let-he/she/it-live
Eläköön!
let-he/she/it-live
Hooray!
Noudattakoon
person-is-declared-to-obey
Noudattakoon
person-is-declared-to-obey
typical expression in legislative context
Tapahtukoon
let-it-happen
tahtosi
your-will
Tapahtukoon tahtosi
let-it-happen your-will
let thy will be done
German
In the German language, the jussive mood is expressed using the presentsubjunctive (named Konjunktiv I or Möglichkeitsform I in German). It is typical of formal documents or religious texts, such as the Bible. Because it was more common in past centuries, it has often survived in proverbs:
Es
It
kehre
sweep+SBJV+PRS+3S
jeder
everyone
vor
in front of
seiner
his
eigenen
own
Tür.
door
Es kehre jeder vor seiner eigenen Tür.
It sweep+SBJV+PRS+3S everyone {in front of} his own door
Everyone should sweep in front of his own door (Everybody should mind his own business).
It is still common that recipes are written in jussive mood:
Man
One
nehme
take+SBJV+PRS+3S
drei
three
Eier
eggs
Man nehme drei Eier
One take+SBJV+PRS+3S three eggs
Take three eggs
Apart from that, jussive mood is still quite common in contemporary German. However, the pronouns he, she, and it might not be used directly; otherwise jussive would be mistaken for a dated form of courteous imperative. Instead, they will have to be replaced by "who", "someone", "everyone", "the new colleague" and so on:
Wer
Whoever
noch
still
eine
a
Karte
ticket
braucht,
need+IND+PRS+3S,
melde
report+SBJV+PRS+3S
sich
self
bei
at
mir
me
Wer noch eine Karte braucht, melde sich bei mir
Whoever still a ticket need+IND+PRS+3S, report+SBJV+PRS+3S self at me
If someone still needs a ticket, just contact me.
Finally, an example for jussive that would have served as a courteous imperative when addressing people of lower, but not lowest, rank:
Komme
come+SUBJ+SBJV+3S
Er
he
her
here
und
and
helfe
help+SBJV+PRS+3S
Er
he
mir!
me!
Komme Er her und helfe Er mir!
come+SUBJ+SBJV+3S he here and help+SBJV+PRS+3S he me!
Come over and help me!
Note that Er is written in capital letters here. Even if this construction is not used anymore in common German, it will be recognized as being an imperative (German Wikipedia lists the example Sei Er nicht so streng! as a historic form of an imperative).
Hindi
For the non-aspectual verb forms, Hindi uses the subjunctive forms as imperatives for the formal 2nd person and the 3rd person singular and plural grammatical persons.[3]
In the Latin language, the presentsubjunctive has a usage labelled the "jussive subjunctive" or coniunctivus iussivus that expresses 3rd-person orders:[4][5]
Adiuvet ("Let him help.")
Veniant ("Let them come.")
A jussive use of the present subjunctive is also attested for the second person in sayings and poetry, as well as in early Latin.[6]
iniurias fortunae [...] relinquas ("Leave behind [...] the wrongs of Fortune", saying from Cicero's Tusculanae Disputationes)
doceas iter ("Show us the way", poetry from Virgil's Aeneid)
Russian
The jussive mood in modern Russian serves as an imperative (for issuing orders, commanding or requesting), but covers third person instead of second person. It is always formed with a particle пусть, which is derived from the verb пускать (to let, to allow).
Imperative: Беги! (Run!)
Jussive: Пусть бежит (similar to Let him run)
Turkish
The jussive mood in Turkish serves as an imperative (for issuing orders, commanding or requesting), but covers third person (both singular and plural) instead of second person. The negative, interrogative and negative-interrogative forms are also possible.
Imperative: koş! (Run!)
Jussive: koşsun! (similar to Let him/her run or he/she shall run)
Jussive: koşsunlar! (similar to Let them run or they shall run)
Imperative: koşma! (Don't run!)
Jussive: koşmasın! (similar to Don't let him/her run or he/she shall not run)
Jussive: koşmasınlar! (similar to Don't let them run or they shall not run)
References
^Loos, Eugene E.; Anderson, Susan; Day, Dwight H. Jr.; Jordan, Paul C.; Wingate, J. Douglas (eds.). "What is jussive mood?". Glossary of linguistic terms. SIL International. Archived from the original on 2012-11-22. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
^ abcAbu Chakra, Faruk (2018). Arabic: An Essential Grammar (2 ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 291–293.
Bar-Adon, Aaron (1966). "New Imperative and Jussive Formations in Contemporary Hebrew". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 86 (4): 410–3. doi:10.2307/596497. JSTOR596497.
Orlinsky, Harry M. (1941). "On the Cohortative and Jussive after an Imperative or Interjection in Biblical Hebrew". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 31 (4): 371–82. doi:10.2307/1452235. JSTOR1452235.
Huehnergard, John (1987). "The Feminine Plural Jussive in Old Aramaic". Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. 137 (2): 266–77. JSTOR43379556.
