Adessive case

Template:Short description An adessive case (abbreviated Template:Sc; from Latin adesse "to be present (at)": ad "at" + esse "to be") is a grammatical case generally denoting location at, upon, or adjacent to the referent of the noun; the term is used most frequently for Uralic studies. For Uralic languages, such as Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian, it is the fourth of the locative cases, with the basic meaning of "on"—for example, Estonian (table) and (on the table), Hungarian and (at the table). It is also used as an instrumental case in Finnish.

For Finnish, the suffix is /, e.g. (table) and (on the table). In addition, it can specify "being around the place", as in (at the school including the schoolyard), as contrasted with the inessive (in the school, inside the building).

In Estonian, the ending -l is added to the genitive case, e.g. (table) - (on the table). Besides the meaning "on", this case is also used to indicate ownership. For example, "mehel on auto" means "the man owns a car".

As the Uralic languages don't possess the verb "to have", the concept is expressed as a subject in the adessive case + on (for example, , "I have", literally "at me is").

The other locative cases in Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian are:

• Inessive case ("in")
• Elative case ("out of")
• Illative case ("into")
• Allative case ("onto")
• Ablative case ("off")
• Superessive case ("on top of, or on the surface of")

Finnish

The Finnish adessive case has the word ending or (according to the rules of vowel harmony). It is usually added to nouns and associated adjectives.

It is used in the following ways.

• Expressing the static state of being on the surface of something.

Possible English meanings of on, on top of, or atop

- The pen is on the table.

• As an existential clause with the verb olla (to be) to express possession

This is the Finnish way to express the English verb to have

= We have a dog. ('on our (possession, responsibility, etc.) is dog')

• Expressing the instrumental use of something

Possible English meanings of with, by or using

- He went to Helsinki by train.

- He bought it for a Euro.

• In certain time expressions expressing the time at which events occur

Possible English meanings of during, in or over

- In the morning.

- During Spring.

• Expressing the general proximity in space or time at which something occurs (where the more specific proximity case would be the inessive)

Possible English meaning of at

- My son is at school.

(cf. inessive case: - My son is inside the school.)

- He is at lunch. - literally "on the lunch hour".

(This proximity difference corresponds to adverbial forms such as - "around here" and - "right here",

though they are not strictly a use of the adessive case).

Non-Uralic

Other languages which employ an adessive case or case function include archaic varieties of Lithuanian (which likely developed by the influence of Uralic), some Northeast Caucasian languages such as Lezgian and Hunzib, and the Ossetic languages, both ancient and modern.