Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Terminative case

Grammatical case

In grammar, the terminative or terminalis case (abbreviated term) is a case specifying a limit in space and time and also to convey the goal or target of an action.

01Assamese

In the Assamese language, the terminative case is indicated by the suffix -(অ)লৈকে -(o)loike:

আজিৰ

azir

পৰা

pora

পৰহিলৈকে

porohiloike

আজিৰ পৰা পৰহিলৈকে

azir pora porohiloike

'from today up to the-day-after-tomorrow'

মৰিগাঁৱৰ

morigaor

পৰা

pora

হোজাইলৈকে

hüzailoike

মৰিগাঁৱৰ পৰা হোজাইলৈকে

morigaor pora hüzailoike

'From Morigaon up to Hojai.'

নৈৰ

noir

ইপাৰৰ

iparor

পৰা

pora

সিপাৰলৈকে

xiparoloike

নৈৰ ইপাৰৰ পৰা সিপাৰলৈকে

noir iparor pora xiparoloike

'From this bank up to that bank of the river'

02Bashkir

In the Bashkir language, the terminative case is indicated by the suffix -ğasa/-gäsä/-qasa/-käsä:

киске

kiske

12-нән

12-nän

таңғы

tañğï

етегәсә

yetegäsä

киске 12-нән таңғы етегәсә

kiske 12-nän tañğï yetegäsä

'from 12 pm up to 7 am'

Был

Bïl

аҙнала

aðnala

32

32

градусҡаса

gradusqasa

эҫетәсәк.

eśetäsäk

Был аҙнала 32 градусҡаса эҫетәсәк.

Bïl aðnala 32 gradusqasa eśetäsäk

'This week, it will get hot up to 32 degrees (celsius).'

However, postpositions тиклем (tiklem), хәтлем (xätlem), ҡәҙәр (qäðär) 'till, up to' are more frequently used in Bashkir to convey this meaning.

03Classical Hebrew

T.J. Meek has argued that "the so-called locative " in Classical Hebrew "is terminative only and should be renamed terminative ."

04Estonian

In the Estonian language, the terminative case is indicated by the '-ni' suffix:

  • jõeni: 'to the river'/'as far as the river'
  • kella kuueni: 'until six o'clock'

05Hungarian

The Hungarian language uses the '-ig' suffix.

  • a házig: 'as far as the house'
  • hat óráig/hatig: 'until six o'clock'

If used for time, it can also show how long the action lasted.

  • hat óráig: 'for six hours'/'six hours long'
  • száz évig: 'for a hundred years'

It is not always clear whether the thing in terminative case belongs to the interval in question or not.

  • A koncertig maradtam.: 'I stayed until the concert (ended or started?)' Here it is more likely that the person only stayed there until the concert began.
  • Mondj egy számot 1-től 10-ig!: 'Say a number from 1 to (until) 10.' However here 10 can be said as well.

The corresponding question word is meddig?, which is simply the question word mi? ('what?') in terminative case.

06Sumerian

In Sumerian, the terminative case -še not only was used to indicate end-points in space or time but also end-points of an action itself such as its target or goal. In this latter role, it functioned much like an accusative case.

07Finnish

The use of the postposition asti (or synonymously saakka) with the illative (or allative or sublative) case in Finnish very closely corresponds to the terminative. These same postpositions with the elative (or ablative) case also express the opposite of a terminative: a limit in time or space of origination or initiation.

The old Finnish terminative -ni is no longer productive, but it appears in the Kalevala: nominative se "it, that" ~ terminative sini "up to where" = modern siihen asti, and nominative kuka "who, what (poetic)" ~ terminative kuni "up to where" = modern kuhun asti. Also, the established phrase kaikki tyynni "every, until completion" contains the terminative tyynni, being derived from an older form kaikki tyvennik "every, up to its base", where tyvi is "foot, base".

08Japanese

The Japanese particle まで (made) acts like a terminative case.

Watch videos about Terminative caseExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Terminative case, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.