In linguistics, a desiderative (abbreviated or) form is one that has the meaning of "wanting to X". Desiderative forms are often verbs, derived from a more basic verb through a process of morphological derivation. Desiderative mood is a kind of volitive mood.
In Sanskrit, the desiderative is formed through the suffixing of /sa/ and the prefixing of a reduplicative syllable, consisting of the first consonant of the root (sometimes modified) and a vowel, usually /i/ but /u/ if the root has an /u/ in it. Changes to the root vowel sometimes happen, as well. The acute accent, which indicates high pitch in Vedic, is usually placed at the first vowel.
For example:
| Base form | Meaning | Desiderative | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nayati | "he leads" | nínīṣati | "he wants to lead" | |
| pibati | "he drinks" | pípāsati | "he wants to drink" | |
| jīvati | "he lives" | jíjīviṣati | "he wants to live" |
In Meadow Mari, the desiderative mood is marked by the suffix -не -ne.
| Person | 1st Dec. pos. | 2nd Dec. pos. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular | лекнем2 (I want to go) | мондынем (I want to forget) | |
| 2nd Singular | лекнет2 (You want to go) | мондынет (You want to forget) | |
| 3rd Singular | лекнеже2 (He/she/it wants to go) | мондынеже (He/she/it wants to forget) | |
| 1st Plural | лекнена2 (We want to go) | мондынена (We want to forget) | |
| 2nd Plural | лекнеда2 (You want to go) | мондынеда (You want to forget) | |
| 3rd Plural | лекнешт2 (They want to go) | мондынешт (They want to forget) |
| Person | 1st Dec. neg. | 2nd Dec. neg. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular | ынем лек2 (I don't want to go) | ынем мондо1 (I don't want to forget) | |
| 2nd Singular | ынет лек2 (You don't want to go) | ынет мондо1 (You don't want to forget) | |
| 3rd Singular | ынеже лек2 (He/she/it doesn't want to go) | ынеже мондо1 (He/she/it doesn't want to forget) | |
| 1st Plural | ынена лек2 (We don't want to go) | ынена мондо1 (We don't want to forget) | |
| 2nd Plural | ынеда лек2 (You don't want to go) | ынеда мондо1 (You don't want to forget) | |
| 3rd Plural | ынешт лек2 (They don't want to go) | ынешт мондо1 (They don't want to forget) |
In Japanese, the desiderative takes two main forms: (Japanese: -たい) and (Japanese: -たがる). Both forms conjugate for tense and positivity, but in different ways: with the ending, the verb becomes an, or a conjugable adjective, while the ending (suffix) creates a godan/yodan verb. Though there are other, compound forms to demonstrate wanting, these two alone are demonstrated because they are inflections of the main verb. These two forms are plain/informal in nature, and can be elevated to the normal-polite and other levels through normal methods.
is an absolute statement of desire, whereas indicates the appearance of desire. Generally, one does not say things such as Japanese: 太郎さんが食べたい 'Tarō wants to eat' because one cannot read Tarō's thoughts; instead, one says Japanese: 太郎さんが食べたがる 'it appears that Tarō wants to eat.'
| Japanese: -たい|translit=-tai|label=none | Japanese: -たがる|translit=-tagaru|label=none | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-past | Positive | Japanese: 食べたい|translit=tabetai|label=none | Japanese: 食べたがる|translit=tabetagaru|label=none | 'wants to eat' |
| Negative | Japanese: 食べたくない|translit=tabetakunai|label=none | Japanese: 食べたがらない|translit=tabetagaranai|label=none | 'don't/doesn't want to eat' | |
| Past | Positive | Japanese: 食べたかった|translit=tabetakatta|label=none | Japanese: 食べたがった|translit=tabetagatta|label=none | 'wanted to eat' |
| Negative | Japanese: 食べたくなかった|translit=tabetakunakatta|label=none | Japanese: 食べたがらなかった|translit=tabetagaranakatta|label=none | 'didn't want to eat' | |
Proto-Indo-European likely had a desiderative. In some daughter languages like Albanian, Indo-Iranian, Balto-Slavic and possibly Celtic, it acquired the meaning of a future tense.