In linguistics, abessive (abbreviated or), caritive (abbreviated) and privative (abbreviated) is the grammatical case expressing the lack or absence of the marked noun. In English, the corresponding function is expressed by the preposition without or by the suffix -less.
The name abessive is derived from Latin: abesse "to be away/absent", and is especially used in reference to Uralic languages. The name caritive is derived from Latin: carere|link=no "to lack", and is especially used in reference to Caucasian languages. The name privative is derived from Latin: privare|link=no "to deprive".
In the Somali language, the abessive case is marked by Somali: -la'. For example:
Somali: magac "name"
Somali: magacla' "nameless"
Somali: dhar "clothes"
Somali: dharla' "clothesless," i.e., naked
In Martuthunira, the privative case is formed with either -wirriwa or -wirraa.
In the Finnish language, the abessive case is marked by Finnish: -tta for back vowels and Finnish: -ttä for front vowels according to vowel harmony. For example:
Finnish: raha "money"
Finnish: rahatta "without money"An equivalent construction exists using the word Finnish: ilman and the partitive:
Finnish: ilman rahaa "without money"or, less commonly:
Finnish: rahaa ilman "without money"The abessive case of nouns is rarely used in writing and even less in speech, although some abessive forms are more common than their equivalent Finnish: ilman forms:
Finnish: tuloksetta "unsuccessfully, fruitlessly"
Finnish: Itkin syyttä. "I cried for no reason."The abessive is, however, commonly used in nominal forms of verbs (formed with the affix Finnish: -ma- / Finnish: -mä-):
Finnish: puhu-ma-tta "without speaking"
Finnish: osta-ma-tta "without buying"
Finnish: välittä-mä-ttä "without caring"
Finnish: Juna jäi tulematta. "The train didn't show up."This form can often be replaced by using the negative form of the verb:
Finnish: Juna ei tullut. "The train didn't show up."
It is possible to occasionally hear what is considered wrong usage of the abessive in Finnish, where the abessive and Finnish: ilman forms are combined:
Finnish: ilman rahattaThere is debate as to whether this is interference from Estonian.
Estonian also uses the abessive, which is marked by Estonian: -ta in both the singular and the plural:
Estonian: (ilma) autota "without a car" (the preposition Estonian: ilma "without" is optional)Unlike in Finnish, the abessive is commonly used in both written and spoken Estonian.
The nominal forms of verbs are marked with the affix Estonian: -ma- and the abessive marker Estonian: -ta:
Estonian: Rong jäi tulemata. "The train didn't show up."
Tallinn has a pair of bars that play on the use of the comitative and abessive, the Estonian: Nimeta baar[1] (the nameless bar) and the Estonian: Nimega baar[2] (the bar with a name).
The abessive marker for nouns in Skolt Sámi is Skolt Sami: -tää or Skolt Sami: -taa in both the singular and the plural:
Skolt Sami: Riâkkum veäʹrtää. "I cried for no reason."The abessive-like non-finite verb form (converb) is Skolt Sami: -ǩâni or Skolt Sami: -kani:
Skolt Sami: Son vuõʹlji domoi mainsteǩâni mõʹnt leäi puättam. "He/she went home without saying why he/she had come."Unlike Finnish, the Skolt Sámi abessive has no competing expression for lack of an item.
The abessive marker for nouns in Inari Sámi is Inari Sami: -táá. The corresponding non-finite verb form is Inari Sami: -hánnáá, Inari Sami: -hinnáá or Inari Sami: -hennáá.
The abessive is not used productively in the Western Sámi languages, although it may occur as a cranberry morpheme.
In Hungarian, the abessive case is marked by Hungarian: -talan for back vowels and Hungarian: -telen for front vowels according to vowel harmony. Sometimes, with certain roots, the suffix becomes Hungarian: -tlan or Hungarian: -tlen. For example:
Hungarian: pénz "money"
Hungarian: pénztelen "without money"
Hungarian: haza "home(land)"
Hungarian: hazátlan "(one) without a homeland"There is also the postposition Hungarian: nélkül, which also means without, but is not meant for physical locations.[3]
Hungarian: Cukor nélkül iszom a teát. "I drink tea without sugar."
Hungarian: Testvér nélkül éltem. "I lived without siblings."
Hungarian: Eljöttél Magyarországra a testvéred nélkül? "Did you come to Hungary without your sibling?"
In Bashkir the suffix is Bashkir: -һыҙ/-һеҙ (Bashkir: -hïð/-hĭð).
The suffix Turkish: -siz (variations: Turkish: -sız, Turkish: -suz, Turkish: -süz) is used in Turkish.
Ex: Turkish: evsiz (Turkish: ev = house, houseless/homeless), Turkish: barksız, Turkish: görgüsüz (Turkish: görgü = good manners, ill-bred), Turkish: yurtsuz.
The same suffix is used in the Azerbaijani language.
In Chuvash the suffix is Chuvash: -сӑр/-сӗр.
In Kyrgyz the suffix is Kirghiz; Kyrgyz: -сIз.
In Mongolian, the privative suffix is Mongolian: -гүй . It is not universally considered to be a case, because the suffix does not conform to vowel harmony or undergo any stem-dependent orthographical variation. However, its grammatical function is the precise inverse of the comitative case, and the two form a pair of complementary case forms.[4]
. Juha Janhunen. Mongolian. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 2012. 105 & 109. London Oriental and African Language Library.