THE USE OF THE CASES.
The majority of the cases of the Finnish noun have, at any rate in their origin, a local meaning. Of these local cases two obvious groups are found, one called the interior local cases (inessive, elative, and illative), the other the exterior cases (the adessive, ablative, and allative). Another group is formed by the essive, partitive, and translative, which, however, do not hang together so closely as the cases above cited, inasmuch as the primary local meaning has in all of them been obscured by metaphorical uses. In all these groups the first member (inessive, adessive, essive) denotes originally rest in a position; the second (elative, ablative, partitive) motion from; the third (illative, allative, translative) motion to. From the original local meaning, all the cases, except the allative, come to indicate time. It may be roughly said that the first member denotes present time, the second past time, and the third future time. They are also used in a metaphorical sense, in which case the first members of the groups denote the state in which anything is, the second the state from which anything passes, and the third the state into which anything passes. In the first and second groups there is a close correspondence in the metaphorical use of the various members of the group: that is to say, if one member can be used metaphorically to express existence in a state, the others can be used to express a transition from or to it. Most of the cases have, however, in addition to these common uses, others which are peculiar to themselves and are not shared by the other members of the group.
The usage of the first and second group also shows many coincidences. It is generally said that the first group denotes local position with regard to the interior, and the second with regard to the exterior of the object. In the present state of the language, however, the distinction in this form is not very clearly observed, as will be seen by the examples given. The second group has a tendency to denote persons rather than things, whereas the first is used more of inanimate objects. The third group is mainly used in metaphorical senses. It is noticeable that there are many coincidences between the uses of the partitive and the elative.
Most of the other cases call for little comment. The instructive is used mostly adverbially, but plays a considerable part in the construction of sentences, and is likely to be troublesome to a beginner on account of its resemblance to the genitive in form. The prolative is rarely used. The comitative and abessive express respectively the presence and absence of an object. The former is not much used, but the peculiarities of the Finnish construction have caused the latter to in some ways take the place of a negative.
As has already been stated in the Accidence, it would appear that in some of the cases two forms have been merged in one. Thus it appears that the adessive represents (1) a local case, (2) an instrumental. So, too, the genitive represents (1) a case denoting the relation existing between objects, (2) a dative. The nominative is also used (1) as a real nominative, (2) as an accusative, having perhaps lost the termination in this latter case.
To understand Finnish syntax it is of the greatest importance to remember that there is no real distinction between nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, infinitives, and participles. In fact, all the words of a sentence, except the forms of a finite verb (and a few particles which have become petrified) are nouns, and as such are susceptible of declension, so that the significance of the cases has an importance extending over almost the entire grammar.
Nominative.
Most of the uses of the nominative have already been indicated.
I. It is employed as the subject of a sentence if the subject is total. The subject of a transitive verb is always considered as total (vide p. [122]). Ihmiset kuolevat, men are mortal. Seppä myi hevosen, the smith sold the horse. Mitä sijat maksavat? what do the places cost?
II. It also is used in the predicate, under the conditions mentioned, page [123]. Silta on leveä, the bridge is wide. Ystäväni tytär on seitsemän vuotias, my friend’s daughter is seven years old.
III. It is used as the direct object after an imperative, or an infinitive depending on an imperative (vide p. [128]). Lyökämme käsi kätehen (Kal. i. 21). Päästä piika pintehestä (Kal. i. 173). Kun solmit ystäwyyttä, tee aina umpisolmu, when you tie the knot of friendship, make it hard to untie. Tuokaa minulle kahvi, give me the coffee. Pankaa tämä kirje postiin, post this letter.
IV. When the passive form of the verb is used, the subject (or more properly object) is put in the nominative, if it is total. Hän saatetaan kotia, he is conducted home (vide p. [182]).
V. The nominative is used as the vocative. Oi ukko ylijumala! Weli kulta, weikkoseni, kaunis kasvinkumppalini!
VI. The nominative absolute is frequently used. Kal. xvi. 192-3. Tuonen hattu hartioilla, Manan kintahat käessä, the hat of death on thy head, and the gloves of death on thy hands. Ei vahinko tule kello kaulassa, misfortune does not come with a bell round his neck. Harvoin on se mies piippu poissa suusta, this man is rarely without a pipe in his mouth. Hän makaa ulkona pää paljaana, he sleeps out of doors with his head bare.
The Partitive Case.
The original meaning of this case seems to have been motion from a place, and traces of this signification are found in the forms kotoa, ulkoa, kaukaa, takaa, tyköä, and luota. Tulla ulkoa, to come from out of doors; nähdä kaukaa, to see from far. The partitive is also apparently used locally in such expressions as tulkaa tätä tietä, come this way; minä käyn tietä, I go by the road; he kulkivat matkaansa, they went on their way. Perhaps, however, these might be explained by supposing that the intransitive verbs tulla, käydä, etc. take a cognate object. The use of the partitive of the participle passive (p. [198]) to denote ‘after’ is noticeable.
Hence the case passes not unnaturally to mean what is taken from, or forms part of a thing.
I. A substantive preceded by words which express a quantity or measure is put in the partitive. Joukko ihmisiä, a crowd of men; naula lihaa, a pound of meat; paljo rahaa, much money; vähä voita, a little butter.
Similarly a cardinal number, if it is the subject of a sentence, is followed by the partitive sing. of the word which it qualifies. Kolme poikaa, three boys; seitsemän veljeä, seven brothers. In the same way we have, kaksi kymmentä, two tens or twenty. But if the word qualified by the numeral would not be in the nominative in ordinary European languages, the two agree in case (vide p. [172]).
II. The word expressing quantity is omitted and the partitive stands alone as the subject of the sentence. This construction can often, though not always, be rendered by the word ‘some’ in English, or by ‘de’ with the article in French. Leipää on pöydällä, there is some bread on the table (il y a du pain sur la table). It is to be noticed that in this construction the verb of which the partitive is the subject must be intransitive, and is always in the singular, though the subject should be in the plural. Onko teillä vaatteita? have you any clothes?
The subject of a negative sentence is put in the partitive, in cases where we should say in English,—‘There is not’ or ‘there is no.’ Ei ole täällä ihmisiä, there are no men here. In such a sentence as en ole merilohia, syvän aallon ahvenia (Kal. v. 122), I am not a salmon, the partitive must be explained as indicating a class, I am not one of the salmons. In ordinary Finnish the partitive is only used in this way with determining adjectives. Thus one says, En ole vaimo, I am not a woman; but En ole niitä vaimoja jotka unhottavat miehensä, I am not one of the women who forget their husbands.
III. The object is put in the partitive whenever it is not total (vide rules given above, p. [127]). Juoda kahvia, to drink some coffee; poika lukee kirjaa, the boy is reading the book. The object of a negative verb is always regarded as partial. Poika ei antanut kirjaa, the boy did not give the book. Hevonen ei jaksanut vetää kuormaa, the horse could not carry the load.
V. As stated in the rules given p. [123], the complement of a sentence is put in the partitive when it expresses a whole of which the subject is a part. The partitive is particularly used to express the substance of which a thing is made. Sormus on kultaa, the ring is gold. Kieli on lihaa ja hampaat ovat luuta, the tongue is flesh, and the teeth are bone.
VI. In a sentence expressing comparison the word kuin (than) can be omitted, and the word which follows the comparative be put in the partitive. Kuu on pienempi kuin aurinko, or kuu on pienempi aurinkoa, the moon is smaller than the sun. Pietari on suurempi Helsinkiä, St. Petersburg is larger than Helsingfors. Eikö Abanan ja Pharpharan wirrat Damaskussa ole kaikkia Israelin vesiä paremmat? Are not Abana and Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?
VII. Adjectives expressing height or size require the partitive. Kirkon torni on kaksi sataa jalkaa korkea, the church tower is 200 feet high. Joki on kaksikymmentä jalkaa syvä, the river is 200 feet deep. Silta on puolta virstaa pitkä, the bridge is half a verst long.
VIII. The partitive is used in salutations, exclamations, etc., where it is to be explained by the omission of some word. Hyvää iltaa, hyvää huomenta (I wish you) good morning; kiitoksia, thanks; terveisiä, my compliments; mahdotonta! impossible! kauheaa, horrible! So too in such expressions as voi päiviäni.
Accusative.
I. The direct object of a finite active verb, if not in the imperative, is put in the accusative, when the action of the verb is regarded as total (vide p. [126]). Isä ostaa kirjan pojalle, the father buys the book for the boy. Kauppamies saa rahat, the merchant receives the money.
II. The accusative is also used to denote duration of time. Viivyn päivän, viikon, muutamat viikkokaudet. Itki illat, itki aamut, yöhyet ennemmin itki, Kal. v. 7, 8. It is also used in answer to the question, how many times, or which time. Minä olen täällä ensimäisen kerran, I am here for the first time. Mina olen ollut Helsingissä muutamat (useat, monet) kerrat, I have been many times at Helsingfors.
But expressions with joka, such as joka kerta, joka päivä, are used in the nominative. Olen joka kerta matkustanut meritse, I have several times travelled by sea. Hän on minun nähnyt harva kerta, he has rarely seen me. Minä ratsastan joka päivä, I ride every day.
Genitive.
I. The genitive in Finnish is used with nouns—
(1) As the subjective genitive. Alqwistin teokset, the works of Alquist; kaupungin kadut, the streets of the town.
(2) As the objective genitive. Vanhempain rakkaus, love for one’s parents; jumalan pelko, fear of God.
(3) As the determinative genitive. Helsingin kaupunki, the town of Helsingfors; kunnon mies, kunnon valkea, a good man, a good fire.
II. Adjectives ending in -inen, which express age, measure, character, etc., take the genitive. Vanha, old, follows the same rule. Sen muotoinen, of this kind; sormen pituinen, of a finger’s length; venäläisen luontoinen, a Russian in character. Pullo on kolmen lasin vetoinen, the bottle holds three glasses. Susi on koiran näköinen, a wolf looks like a dog. Miehen peukalon pituinen, waimon waaksan korkeuinen (Kal. ii. 115). If the word in the genitive is an adjective, numeral, or pronoun, it is written as one word with the word on which it depends. Pahankurinen, ill-behaved; hyväntapainen, well-behaved.
III. The genitive is also used—
(1) With certain impersonal verbs, such as täytyy, pitää, tulee, käskee, sopii, kelpaa, tarvitsee, and with the verb olla, when this latter is used with certain adjectives. Minun pitää lähteä ulkomaalle, I must go abroad. Hänen sopii viipyä täällä. Subjectisanan tulee olla nominativissa tai partitivissa, the subject must be in the nominative or partitive. Parempi minun olisi, parempi olisi ollut, better had it been for me. Ei hänen ollut vaikea päästä ulos, he had no difficulty in getting out.
(2) A good many words expressing some state or feeling are used with the verb olla, and a genitive of the person who feels. Minun on jano, I am thirsty; minun on nälkä, I am hungry; minun on tarve, I must. Hänen on aika mennä, it is time for him to go. Similarly, Rikkaiden on velvolisuus antaa köyhille, it is the duty of the rich to give to the poor. Sotamiehen on pakko mennä vaaraan, it is the duty of a soldier to go into danger. In these latter sentences the genitive seems quite natural in our idiom, but they are really closely analogous to the phrases given above. In the dialect spoken about St. Petersburg it is usual to say minulla (not minun) on jano, nälkä.
Some of the examples quoted above support the idea (v. p. [24]), that there is an old dative in Finnish ending in n, which has become confused with the genitive. It is hardly possible to explain otherwise such expressions as Jumalan kiitos, thank God; Anna minun olla rauhassa, leave me in peace.
IV. The genitive is used with the infinitives and participles to denote the agent. Examples of this use will be found in the description of the use of those parts of the verb (p. [184, ff.]).
This use is also found after caritive adjectives. Miekan miehen käymätöntä (Kal. xxviii. 257), untouched by the sword of man.