Case: case
Case helps specify the role of the noun phrase in the sentence. For example, the nominative and accusative cases often distinguish subject and object of the verb, while in fixed-word-order languages these functions would be distinguished merely by the positions of the nouns in the sentence.
In Kyrgyz, case is an inflectional feature of nouns. In some cases, numerals) may also be inflected for case when they are used as nouns. It is also valency feature of postpositions (saying that the adposition requires its argument to be in that case).
Traditionally, Kyrgyz is considered to have 6 cases (nominative is
often not listed): Nom, Acc, Gen, Dat, Loc, Abl.
We also consider suffix -нан as a case suffix introducing comitative or instrumental case, and mark it as Ins (although the function may sometimes be Com in some of these cases, currently we do not distinguish the two).
Nom: nominative / direct
The base form of the noun, typically used as citation form (lemma).
Examples
- кыз уктап жатат. “The girl sleeps.”
Acc: accusative
Typically, accusative case in Kyrgyz marks the definite direct object in a sentence.
Indefinite direct objects do not receive the accusative suffix,
but stays in bare form (Nom).
In KyrgyzAcc is expressed by suffix -(т)ы (ы/и/у/ү/ты/ти/ту/тү).
Examples
- Мен китеп-ти окудум “I read-PAST the book” (cf. Мен китепти окудум “I read a book” / “I read books”)
Dat: dative
Dative case is typically used to indicate movement into/towards/to a place or time. The oblique arguments of some verbs and complements (noun phrases) of some postpositions also required to be in dative case.
In KyrgyzDat is expressed by suffix -(г)а , -(к)а(е/а/га/ка/ге/ке).
Examples
- Мен Бишкек-ке бара жатам. “I am going to Bishkek”
- Китепти Али-ге бериңиз “Give the book to Ali”
- Жамгыр-га карабай ойноп жатышат “They are playing despite the rain”
Gen: genitive
Prototypical meaning of genitive is that the noun phrase somehow belongs to its governor; it would often be translated by the English preposition of. Complements of some postpositions are also required to be in genitive case. The genitive morpheme also marks the subject of the subordinate clauses.
In KyrgyzGen is expressed by suffix -(д)ин,(т)ин_, (н)ин.
Examples
- Алинин китеби. “Ali’s book”
- Менин машинам бар. “I have a car.”
Loc: locative
The locative case often expresses location in space or time, which gave it its name. The oblique arguments of some verbs and complements (noun phrases) also required to be in locative case.
In KyrgyzLoc is expressed by suffix -то,-да.
Examples
- Талас шаарында айдоочуларды даярдоочу мектептер текшерилүүдө. “Driving training schools are being inspected in Talas.”
- Сузакта селден жабыркаган 8 үй-бүлөгө үй курулууда. “Houses are being built for 8 flood-affected families in Suzak.”
Ins: instrumental
The role from which the name of the instrumental case is derived is that the noun is used as instrument to do something.
In Kyrgyz, instrumental suffix -нен also indicates comitative,
or signal coordination of two phrases.
We mark all meanings/usages as Ins.
The oblique arguments of some verbs and complements (noun phrases) of some postpositions also required to carry the instrumental suffix.
Examples
- Бишкекте Кытай өкмөтүнүн гранттык каражаттарынын эсебинен каржылануучу долбоорлор талкууланды. “Projects funded by grants from the Chinese government were discussed in Bishkek.” (instrumental)
- Бишкекте айымдарга Садыр Жапаровдун атынан жоолуктар тапшырылды. “Women in Bishkek were presented with scarves on behalf of Sadyr Japarov.” (instrumental)
Abl: ablative
Prototypical meaning: direction from some point. The oblique arguments of some verbs and complements (noun phrases) of some postpositions also required to be in ablative case.
Examples
- Бул кат Петирден жана кечээ жөнөтүлгөн. “This letter is from Peter and was sent yesterday.”
- Кумтөрдөн быйыл 500 миллион долларга чейин киреше алабыз. “We will get up to 500 million dollars fromKumtor this year.”
Equ: equative
The equative case means “X-like”, “similar to X”, “same as X”. It marks the standard of comparison and it differs from the equative Degree, which marks the property being compared. It occurs in Kyrgyz.
Examples
- Ал ага окшоп чуркай алат. “She can run like him..”
Case in other languages: [am] [apu] [arr] [bej] [bg] [cs] [el] [eme] [en] [es] [ess] [et] [fi] [ga] [gn] [grc] [gub] [hu] [hy] [ka] [kmr] [koi] [kpv] [ky] [mdf] [myu] [myv] [pcm] [ps] [pt] [qpm] [ru] [sl] [sv] [tl] [tpn] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urb] [urj] [uz] [xcl]