Genitive case: Difference between revisions

[[File:Lugal Kiengi Kiuri, King of Sumer and Akkad, on a seal of Shulgi.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Cuneiform]] inscription ''Lugal Kiengi Kiuri'' {{cuneiform|5|𒈗𒆠𒂗𒄀𒆠𒌵}},{{clarify|Why is the final 𒆤 left out?|date=March 2025}} "[[King of Sumer and Akkad]]", on a seal of [[Sumer]]ian king [[Shulgi]] (r. {{circa|2094}}–2047 BCE). The final ''ke₄'' {{cuneiform|5|𒆤}} is the composite of -k (genitive case) and -e ([[ergative case]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edzard |first1=Dietz Otto |title=Sumerian Grammar |date=2003 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0340-1 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HOx5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |language=en}}</ref>]]

[[Possessive]] grammatical constructions, including the possessive case, may be regarded as subsets of the genitive construction. For example, the genitive construction "pack of dogs” is similar, but not identical in meaning to the possessive case "dogs' pack" (and neither of these is entirely interchangeable with "dog pack", which is neither genitive nor possessive). [[Modern English]] is an example of a language that has a possessive case rather than a ''conventional'' genitive case. That is, Modern English indicates a genitive construction with either the possessive [[clitic]] suffix "[[Saxon genitive|-{{'s}}]]", or a [[preposition]]al genitive construction such as "x of y". However, some irregular English pronouns do have possessive forms which may more commonly be described as genitive (see [[English possessive]]). The names of the astronomical constellations have genitive forms which are used in star names, for example the star [[Mintaka]] in the constellation [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] (genitive Orionis) is also known as Delta Orionis or 34 Orionis.

Many languages have a genitive case, including [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[German language|German]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Gothic Language|Gothic]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Kannada language|Kannada]], [[Latin]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Malayalam]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], all [[Slavic languages]] except [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], and most of the [[Turkic languages]].

{{unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}

The genitive singular definite article for masculine and neuter nouns is {{lang|de|des}}, while the feminine and plural definite article is {{lang|de|der}}. The indefinite articles are {{lang|de|eines}} for masculine and neuter nouns, and {{lang|de|einer}} for feminine and plural nouns (although the bare form cannot be used in the plural, it manifests in {{lang|de|keiner}}, {{lang|de|meiner}}, etc.)

Singular masculine and neuter nouns of the strong declension in the genitive case are marked with {{lang|de|-(e)s}}. Generally, one-syllable nouns favour the {{lang|de|-es}} ending, and it is obligatory with nouns ending with a sibilant such as {{lang|de|s}} or {{lang|de|z}}. Otherwise, a simple {{lang|de|-s}} ending is usual. Feminine and plural nouns remain uninflected:

*  {{lang|de|des Land'''es'''}} (of the country) – neuter

*  {{lang|de|des Rabe'''n'''}} (of the raven) – masculine

The [[ablative case]] of Indo-European was absorbed into the genitive in Classical Greek.<ref>{{cite book|author=Herbert Weir Smyth|title=Greek Grammar|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1956}}, page 313 and elsewhere</ref> This added to the usages of the "genitive proper", the usages of the "ablatival genitive". The genitive occurs with verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions.

See also [[Genitive absolute]].

*''madár'' ('bird'); ''madáré'' ('bird's')

Use of genitive for negation is obligatory in [[Slovene language|Slovene]], [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Old Church Slavonic]]. Some East Slavic languages ( e.g. [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]) employ either the accusative or genitive for negation, although the genitive is more commonly used. In [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]] and [[Serbo-Croatian language|Serbo-Croatian]], negating with the genitive case is perceived as rather archaic and the accusative is preferred, but genitive negation in these languages is still not uncommon, especially in music and literature.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/11298/1/salt_17_kagan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719195031/http://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/11298/1/salt_17_kagan.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-19 |url-status=live |title=Property-Denoting NPs and Non-Canonical Genitive Case |author=Olga Kagan  |publisher=CLC Publications, Cornell University |journal=Proceedings of the 17th Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference |year=2007 |access-date=January 27, 2013}}</ref>