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Equative is a case prototypically expressing the standard of comparison of equal values ("as… as a …"). The equative case has been used in very few languages in history.[citation needed] It was used in the Sumerian language, where it also took on the semantic functions of the essive case ("in the capacity of…") and similative case ("like a…").[1]
For Sumerian, the equative was formed by adding the suffix -gin7 to the end of a noun phrase. In its similative function:
lugal
"king"
→
lugal-gin7
"kinglike", "like a king"
nitah-kalaga
"mighty man"
→
nitah-kalaga-gin7
"like a mighty man"
For Ossetic it is formed by the ending -ау [aw]:[2]
фӕт
"arrow"
→
фӕтау
"arrowlike"
Ницы
фенӕгау
йӕхи
акодта
lit. "nothingseer-like himself made" ("[he or she] pretended to see nothing").
It is found subdialectally in some speakers of the Khalkha dialect of Mongolian, where it is formed by the endings -цаа [tsaa], -цоо [tsoo], -цээ [tsee] or -цөө [tsöö], depending on the vowel harmony of the noun. It is quite rare and very specific, referring to the height or level of an object:[3]
эрэг
"[river]bank"
→
эрэгцээ
"as high as the bank"
өвдөг
"knee(s)"
→
өвдөгцөө
"up to the height of the knee(s)"
It is also found in the Turkic Khalaj language and in languages from South America like Quechua, Aymara, Uro and Cholón.[citation needed]
Welsh, though it has no equative case of nouns, has an equative degree of adjectives, shown normally by the suffix -ed: for example, "hyned" (â ...), meaning "as old" (as ...).[4]
Sireniki Eskimo had an equative (or comparative) case for describing similarities between nouns.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ Sövegjártó, Szilvia. The Sumerian equative case, 2010.
- ^ Belyaev, Oleg (2010). "Evolution of Case in Ossetic" (PDF). Iran and the Caucasus. 14 (2): 301. doi:10.1163/157338410X12743419190269. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
- ^ Janhunen, Juha A. (2012). Mongolian. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 110. ISBN 9789027238207.
- ^ Morgan, Gareth (1996). "Reading Middle Welsh". Retrieved 2022-08-11.
Welsh has an equative degree of the adjective, meaning 'as big', 'as new', and so on. It often has an air of exclamation about it: 'how big!', 'how new!' The equative suffix is -ed.
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