Part 13

(3) When the action of the verb is continuous and not finished. =Hän lukee kirjaa=, _he is reading the book_. =Seppä takoo rautaa=, _the smith is hammering the iron_. =Hän juuri toimittaa sitä asiata=, _he is just now doing the business_. Often there is a difference in the meaning of a verb, according as it is followed by the accusative or partitive; the former denoting that the action is more complete. =Han löi koiraa=, _he ~struck~ the dog_; but =hän löi koiran=, _he ~killed~ the dog_. =Hän repi kirjaa=, _he ~tore~ the book_; but =repi kirjan=, _he ~tore~ the book ~to pieces~_. A great many verbs never take a total object, because from the nature of their signification, their action cannot be definite and complete, but must be regarded as continuous. This is especially the case with verbs expressing a feeling. =Niin rakasti Jumala maailmaa=, _so God loved the world_. =Neuvoin ystävääni olemaan menemättä=, _I advised my friend not to go_. =Odotin häntä kaksi tuntia=, _I waited two hours for him_. =Seurasin häntä Helsinkiin asti=, _I followed him to Helsingfors_. =Vihatkaatte pahaa=, _hate evil_.

III. The object is also put in the nominative—

(1) If it is the total object of an imperative. =Anna leipä pojalle=, _give the boy the bread_. =Vie hevonen talliin=, _take the horse to the stable_.

(2) If it is the total object of an infinitive, which depends on an imperative, and sometimes in other cases (_vide_ p. 185). =Käske tuoda ruoka pyötään=, _order the food to be put on the table_. =Antakaa lähettää sähkösanoma=, _have a telegram sent_.

(3) If it is a cardinal number. =Maksoin kolme ruplaa=, _I paid three rubles_.

(4) As has already been stated, the so-called passive is an impersonal verb with its total object in the nominative and its partial object in the partitive. For a detailed explanation, _vide_ p. 181.

An intransitive verb can sometimes take an accusative after it to express the result of its action. =Äiti makasi lapsensa kuoliaaksi=, _the mother lay on her child and killed it_ (lit. _slept her child dead_). =Juoksi itsensä väsyksiin=, _he ran himself tired_. =Hän joi itsensä siaksi=, _he drank himself silly_. =Puhui suunsa puhtaaksi=, _he spoke out his mind_.

_Of the Agreement of Substantives and Adjectives with one another._

As a rule, an adjective agrees with a noun in case and number.

=Hyvä mies=, _a good man_; =hyvät miehet=, _good men_. =Näissä suurissa kaupungeissa=, _in these large towns_. =Köyhille lapsille=, _to the poor children_.

There are, however, a considerable number of exceptions.

(1) Adjectives, as well as substantives, from which they can hardly be distinguished, enter very readily into composition as the first member of a compound word, and then are not declined, e.g. =mustameri=, _the Black Sea_. =Isokyrö=, =Vähäkyrö=, names of villages. Cf. such expressions as =mennyt vuonna=, =rankka sateella=, =tuiskusäällä=, =pakkasilmalla=.

(2) Some adjectives are never declined: =aika=, =kelpo=, =oiva=, =ensi=, =viime=, =eri=, =joka=, =koko=, =nyky=, =pikku=.

=Ensi maanantaina=, _on next Monday_. =Kelpo miehelle=, _to the good man_. =Eri osat=, _separate parts_. =Joka paikassa=, _in every place_.

(3) A certain number of adjectives and pronouns, instead of following the regular construction, take after them an instructive plur. or a partitive sing., e.g. =olla pahoilla mielin=, _to be in a good temper_; =tulla hyville mielin=, _to get into a good temper_. =Samalla ajoin=, _at the same time_. =Kaikissa paikoin=, _everywhere_. =Omilla korvin= _or_ =silmin=, _with one’s own eyes_ or _ears_. =Näillä seuduin=, _in this part of the world_.

(4) The words =kulta=, _dear_; =parka=, =raiska=, =raukka=, =riepu=, _poor_, _wretched_; =vaivainen=, _poor_; =vainaja=, _dead_; =paha=, =pahanen=, =polo=, =polonen=, _poor_, though written separately, form a sort of compound with a substantive, which they may either precede or follow. Only the last of the two words is declined. Thus, =poika polosella oli kiire=, _or_ =polo pojalla=, _the poor boy had to hurry_. =Älä suututa äiti kultaani=, _or_ =kulta äitiäni=, _do not anger my dear mother_. =Minä en nähnyt lapsi parkaani=, _I have not seen my poor child_. =Woi minua mies parkaa=, _woe is me, poor man_.

As will be perceived from the rules given above (p. 124), an adjective predicated of a substantive does not always agree with the latter, but may be in the partitive, essive, or translative, when the substantive is in the nominative.

A substantive in apposition to another is usually in the same case.

It is to be noted that in such expressions as _the town of Petersburg_, _the Emperor Alexander_, the Finnish idiom conforms to the English in this respect, that if the object is inanimate, the proper name is put in the genitive. =Helsingin kaupunki=, _the town of Helsingfors_. =Suomenmaa=, _Finland_. In the case of a river either the nominative or genitive can be used. =Nevan joki= _or_ =Neva joki=, _the river Neva_.

But if the proper name denotes an animate object, or a ship, it is put in the nominative, and remains in that case, even though the word in apposition to it is inflected. =Keisari Suuriruhtinas Georg Aleksandrovitschin kanssa=, _the Emperor with the Grand Duke George Alexandrovitch_. =Professori Alquistin kuolema on suuri vahinko Suomelle=, _the death of Professor Alquist is a great blow to Finland_.

When a word in apposition denotes the state of the subject at a given time, and not a general characteristic, it is put in the essive case. =Poikana hän oli sairas=, _as a boy he was ill_.

_The Article._

There is no article in Finnish. Sometimes =yksi= (_one_) is used to represent the indefinite article, and in poetry the definite article is frequently expressed by a pronoun, such as =tuo= _or_ =se=.

The rules given above will have made it clear, however, that under some circumstances Finnish can mark by the use of the cases the same distinction which we mark by the article. It may be said roughly that the nominative generally represents a substantive with the definite article in English (this would be still more true of French), and the partitive a substantive without an article. Thus, =linnut ovat puussa= means _the birds are in the tree_; but =lintuja on puussa=, _there are birds in the tree_. =Ammuin lintuja= is _I shot some birds_; =ammuin linnut=, _I shot the birds_. So, too, =kivet ovat kovat= means _the stones are hard_; while =kivet ovat kovia= means rather _stones are hard_. It would, however, be misleading to state such rules too dogmatically, as doubtless many instances could be found where the use of the nominative and partitive would not correspond to that of the article in English. Naturally, a language which has no articles and no gender is obliged to construct sentences differently from tongues which have these distinctions, and Finnish sentences, particularly in the older and simpler literature, are generally more precise than ours.

THE USE OF THE CASES.

The majority of the cases of the Finnish noun have, at any rate in their origin, a local meaning. Of these local cases two obvious groups are found, one called the interior local cases (inessive, elative, and illative), the other the exterior cases (the adessive, ablative, and allative). Another group is formed by the essive, partitive, and translative, which, however, do not hang together so closely as the cases above cited, inasmuch as the primary local meaning has in all of them been obscured by metaphorical uses. In all these groups the first member (inessive, adessive, essive) denotes originally rest in a position; the second (elative, ablative, partitive) motion from; the third (illative, allative, translative) motion to. From the original local meaning, all the cases, except the allative, come to indicate time. It may be roughly said that the first member denotes present time, the second past time, and the third future time. They are also used in a metaphorical sense, in which case the first members of the groups denote the state in which anything is, the second the state from which anything passes, and the third the state into which anything passes. In the first and second groups there is a close correspondence in the metaphorical use of the various members of the group: that is to say, if one member can be used metaphorically to express existence in a state, the others can be used to express a transition from or to it. Most of the cases have, however, in addition to these common uses, others which are peculiar to themselves and are not shared by the other members of the group.

The usage of the first and second group also shows many coincidences. It is generally said that the first group denotes local position with regard to the interior, and the second with regard to the exterior of the object. In the present state of the language, however, the distinction in this form is not very clearly observed, as will be seen by the examples given. The second group has a tendency to denote persons rather than things, whereas the first is used more of inanimate objects. The third group is mainly used in metaphorical senses. It is noticeable that there are many coincidences between the uses of the partitive and the elative.

Most of the other cases call for little comment. The instructive is used mostly adverbially, but plays a considerable part in the construction of sentences, and is likely to be troublesome to a beginner on account of its resemblance to the genitive in form. The prolative is rarely used. The comitative and abessive express respectively the presence and absence of an object. The former is not much used, but the peculiarities of the Finnish construction have caused the latter to in some ways take the place of a negative.

As has already been stated in the Accidence, it would appear that in some of the cases two forms have been merged in one. Thus it appears that the adessive represents (1) a local case, (2) an instrumental. So, too, the genitive represents (1) a case denoting the relation existing between objects, (2) a dative. The nominative is also used (1) as a real nominative, (2) as an accusative, having perhaps lost the termination in this latter case.

=To understand Finnish syntax it is of the greatest importance to remember that there is no real distinction between nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, infinitives, and participles. In fact, all the words of a sentence, except the forms of a finite verb (and a few particles which have become petrified) are nouns, and as such are susceptible of declension, so that the significance of the cases has an importance extending over almost the entire grammar.=

_Nominative._

Most of the uses of the nominative have already been indicated.

I. It is employed as the subject of a sentence if the subject is total. The subject of a transitive verb is always considered as total (_vide_ p. 122). =Ihmiset kuolevat=, _men are mortal_. =Seppä myi hevosen=, _the smith sold the horse_. =Mitä sijat maksavat?= _what do the places cost?_

II. It also is used in the predicate, under the conditions mentioned, page 123. =Silta on leveä=, _the bridge is wide_. =Ystäväni tytär on seitsemän vuotias=, _my friend’s daughter is seven years old_.

III. It is used as the direct object after an imperative, or an infinitive depending on an imperative (_vide_ p. 128). =Lyökämme käsi kätehen= (Kal. i. 21). =Päästä piika pintehestä= (Kal. i. 173). =Kun solmit ystäwyyttä, tee aina umpisolmu=, _when you tie the knot of friendship, make it hard to untie_. =Tuokaa minulle kahvi=, _give me the coffee_. =Pankaa tämä kirje postiin=, _post this letter_.

IV. When the passive form of the verb is used, the subject (or more properly object) is put in the nominative, if it is total. =Hän saatetaan kotia=, _he is conducted home_ (_vide_ p. 182).

V. The nominative is used as the vocative. =Oi ukko ylijumala!= =Weli kulta, weikkoseni, kaunis kasvinkumppalini!=

VI. The nominative absolute is frequently used. Kal. xvi. 192-3. =Tuonen hattu hartioilla, Manan kintahat käessä=, _the hat of death on thy head, and the gloves of death on thy hands_. =Ei vahinko tule kello kaulassa=, _misfortune does not come with a bell round his neck_. =Harvoin on se mies piippu poissa suusta=, _this man is rarely without a pipe in his mouth_. =Hän makaa ulkona pää paljaana=, _he sleeps out of doors with his head bare_.

_The Partitive Case._

The original meaning of this case seems to have been motion from a place, and traces of this signification are found in the forms =kotoa=, =ulkoa=, =kaukaa=, =takaa=, =tyköä=, and =luota=. =Tulla ulkoa=, _to come from out of doors_; =nähdä kaukaa=, _to see from far_. The partitive is also apparently used locally in such expressions as =tulkaa tätä tietä=, _come this way_; =minä käyn tietä=, _I go by the road_; =he kulkivat matkaansa=, _they went on their way_. Perhaps, however, these might be explained by supposing that the intransitive verbs =tulla=, =käydä=, etc. take a cognate object. The use of the partitive of the participle passive (p. 198) to denote ‘after’ is noticeable.

Hence the case passes not unnaturally to mean what is taken from, or forms part of a thing.

I. A substantive preceded by words which express a quantity or measure is put in the partitive. =Joukko ihmisiä=, _a crowd of men;_ =naula lihaa=, _a pound of meat_; =paljo rahaa=, _much money_; =vähä voita=, _a little butter_.

Similarly a cardinal number, if it is the subject of a sentence, is followed by the partitive sing. of the word which it qualifies. =Kolme poikaa=, _three boys_; =seitsemän veljeä=, _seven brothers_. In the same way we have, =kaksi kymmentä=, _two tens_ or _twenty_. But if the word qualified by the numeral would not be in the nominative in ordinary European languages, the two agree in case (_vide_ p. 172).

II. The word expressing quantity is omitted and the partitive stands alone as the subject of the sentence. This construction can often, though not always, be rendered by the word ‘some’ in English, or by ‘de’ with the article in French. =Leipää on pöydällä=, _there is some bread on the table_ (_il y a du pain sur la table_). It is to be noticed that in this construction the verb of which the partitive is the subject must be intransitive, and is always in the singular, though the subject should be in the plural. =Onko teillä vaatteita?= _have you any clothes?_

The subject of a negative sentence is put in the partitive, in cases where we should say in English,—‘There is not’ or ‘there is no.’ =Ei ole täällä ihmisiä=, _there are no men here_. In such a sentence as =en ole merilohia, syvän aallon ahvenia= (Kal. v. 122), _I am not a salmon_, the partitive must be explained as indicating a class, _I am not one of the salmons_. In ordinary Finnish the partitive is only used in this way with determining adjectives. Thus one says, =En ole vaimo=, _I am not a woman_; but =En ole niitä vaimoja jotka unhottavat miehensä=, _I am not one of the women who forget their husbands_.

III. The object is put in the partitive whenever it is not total (_vide_ rules given above, p. 127). =Juoda kahvia=, _to drink some coffee_; =poika lukee kirjaa=, _the boy is reading the book_. The object of a negative verb is always regarded as partial. =Poika ei antanut kirjaa=, _the boy did not give the book_. =Hevonen ei jaksanut vetää kuormaa=, _the horse could not carry the load_.

V. As stated in the rules given p. 123, the complement of a sentence is put in the partitive when it expresses a whole of which the subject is a part. The partitive is particularly used to express the substance of which a thing is made. =Sormus on kultaa=, _the ring is gold_. =Kieli on lihaa ja hampaat ovat luuta=, _the tongue is flesh, and the teeth are bone_.

VI. In a sentence expressing comparison the word =kuin= (_than_) can be omitted, and the word which follows the comparative be put in the partitive. =Kuu on pienempi kuin aurinko=, _or_ =kuu on pienempi aurinkoa=, _the moon is smaller than the sun_. =Pietari on suurempi Helsinkiä=, _St. Petersburg is larger than Helsingfors_. =Eikö Abanan ja Pharpharan wirrat Damaskussa ole kaikkia Israelin vesiä paremmat?= _Are not Abana and Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?_

VII. Adjectives expressing height or size require the partitive. =Kirkon torni on kaksi sataa jalkaa korkea=, _the church tower is 200 feet high_. =Joki on kaksikymmentä jalkaa syvä=, _the river is 200 feet deep_. =Silta on puolta virstaa pitkä=, _the bridge is half a verst long_.

VIII. The partitive is used in salutations, exclamations, etc., where it is to be explained by the omission of some word. =Hyvää iltaa=, =hyvää huomenta= _(I wish you) good morning_; =kiitoksia=, _thanks_; =terveisiä=, _my compliments_; =mahdotonta!= _impossible!_ =kauheaa=, _horrible!_ So too in such expressions as =voi päiviäni=.

_Accusative._

I. The direct object of a finite active verb, if not in the imperative, is put in the accusative, when the action of the verb is regarded as total (_vide_ p. 126). =Isä ostaa kirjan pojalle=, _the father buys the book for the boy_. =Kauppamies saa rahat=, _the merchant receives the money_.

II. The accusative is also used to denote duration of time. =Viivyn päivän=, =viikon=, =muutamat viikkokaudet=. =Itki illat=, =itki aamut=, =yöhyet ennemmin itki=, Kal. v. 7, 8. It is also used in answer to the question, how many times, or which time. =Minä olen täällä ensimäisen kerran=, _I am here for the first time_. =Mina olen ollut Helsingissä muutamat (useat, monet) kerrat=, _I have been many times at Helsingfors_.

But expressions with =joka=, such as =joka kerta=, =joka päivä=, are used in the nominative. =Olen joka kerta matkustanut meritse=, _I have several times travelled by sea_. =Hän on minun nähnyt harva kerta=, _he has rarely seen me_. =Minä ratsastan joka päivä=, _I ride every day_.

_Genitive._

I. The genitive in Finnish is used with nouns—

(1) As the subjective genitive. =Alqwistin teokset=, _the works of Alquist_; =kaupungin kadut=, _the streets of the town_.

(2) As the objective genitive. =Vanhempain rakkaus=, _love for one’s parents_; =jumalan pelko=, _fear of God_.

(3) As the determinative genitive. =Helsingin kaupunki=, _the town of Helsingfors_; =kunnon mies, kunnon valkea=, _a good man, a good fire_.

II. Adjectives ending in =-inen=, which express age, measure, character, etc., take the genitive. =Vanha=, _old_, follows the same rule. =Sen muotoinen=, _of this kind_; =sormen pituinen=, _of a finger’s length_; =venäläisen luontoinen=, _a Russian in character_. =Pullo on kolmen lasin vetoinen=, _the bottle holds three glasses_. =Susi on koiran näköinen=, _a wolf looks like a dog_. =Miehen peukalon pituinen, waimon waaksan korkeuinen= (Kal. ii. 115). If the word in the genitive is an adjective, numeral, or pronoun, it is written as one word with the word on which it depends. =Pahankurinen=, _ill-behaved_; =hyväntapainen=, _well-behaved_.

III. The genitive is also used—

(1) With certain impersonal verbs, such as =täytyy=, =pitää=, =tulee=, =käskee=, =sopii=, =kelpaa=, =tarvitsee=, and with the verb =olla=, when this latter is used with certain adjectives. =Minun pitää lähteä ulkomaalle=, _I must go abroad_. =Hänen sopii viipyä täällä=. =Subjectisanan tulee olla nominativissa tai partitivissa=, _the subject must be in the nominative or partitive_. =Parempi minun olisi, parempi olisi ollut=, _better had it been for me_. =Ei hänen ollut vaikea päästä ulos=, _he had no difficulty in getting out_.

(2) A good many words expressing some state or feeling are used with the verb =olla=, and a genitive of the person who feels. =Minun on jano=, _I am thirsty_; =minun on nälkä=, _I am hungry_; =minun on tarve=, _I must_. =Hänen on aika mennä=, _it is time for him to go_. Similarly, =Rikkaiden on velvolisuus antaa köyhille=, _it is the duty of the rich to give to the poor_. =Sotamiehen on pakko mennä vaaraan=, _it is the duty of a soldier to go into danger_. In these latter sentences the genitive seems quite natural in our idiom, but they are really closely analogous to the phrases given above. In the dialect spoken about St. Petersburg it is usual to say =minulla= (not =minun=) =on jano, nälkä=.

Some of the examples quoted above support the idea (_v._ p. 24), that there is an old dative in Finnish ending in =n=, which has become confused with the genitive. It is hardly possible to explain otherwise such expressions as =Jumalan kiitos=, _thank God_; =Anna minun olla rauhassa=, _leave me in peace_.

IV. The genitive is used with the infinitives and participles to denote the agent. Examples of this use will be found in the description of the use of those parts of the verb (p. 184, ff.).

This use is also found after caritive adjectives. =Miekan miehen käymätöntä= (Kal. xxviii. 257), _untouched by the sword of man_.

THE INTERNAL CASES—INESSIVE, ELATIVE, AND ILLATIVE.

The inessive, elative, and illative are sometimes called the interior cases, because they express existence in and motion from or to the interior of an object. The adessive, ablative, and allative, on the other hand, are called the external cases, because they indicate rest on and motion from or into the exterior surface of an object. However, this distinction is not always kept up in the use of the cases, and the choice of the interior or exterior case in a given phrase seems often to be regulated by idiom or caprice, rather than by a reference to the original meaning.

_Inessive._

I. The proper meaning of this case is existence in an object. =Mies istuu tuvassa=, _the man sits in the hut_. =Parempi kala suussa kuin haava päässä=, _a fish in the mouth is better than a wound in the head_. =Vene kulkee vedessä=, _the boat moves in the water_. Here the inessive is used, because, though motion is indicated, it is motion _within_ a given space, and not to or from a given point.

There is much irregularity as to the use of the exterior and interior cases of local proper names, (1) Names ending in =la= always take the interior cases for euphony. =Urjalassa=, not =Urjalalla=. (2) Names of countries not ending in =maa=, and foreign names generally take the interior cases; but the word =Venäjä=, _Russia_, is always used in the forms =Venäjällä=, =-ltä=, =-lle=. (3) Names of countries ending in =maa= are generally used in the exterior cases, but the interior cases are used in speaking of things being found in the country. =Olin Saksanmaalla=, _I was in Germany_, but =Saksamaassa on paljo sotamiehiä=, _there are many soldiers in Germany_. But =Suomenmaa=, _Finland_, is always used in the interior cases.

Besides this strict use, the inessive is employed in a variety of expressions either metaphorically or in a loose local sense. Most of such phrases are quite obvious, and can be rendered in English by the preposition ‘in.’

II. It is used to express the time within which anything occurs. =Viidessä viikossa=, _in five weeks_. =Valmistuuko työ kahdessa päivässä=, _finish the work in two days_. =Pietarista Hatsinaan voi matkustaa puolessa toista tunnissa=, _one can go from Petersburg to Gatchina in an hour and a half_.

III. From expressing the place in which the subject is, it is used by a natural transition to express the surroundings, state, or condition of anything. Thus it is employed in speaking of the weather. =Olin ulkona tuulessa ja sateessa=, _I was out in the wind and rain_. =Minä ajoin hevosella lumessa ja tuiskussa=, _I drove in a snow storm_.