Volume IV: Language — Chapter 4: 14 Cases
"14 cases — 14 questions that can be asked of an object. From where? To where? Where? With what? With whom? About what? The Xha'Ruun language does not allow one to remain in ignorance." — Grammar Reference, Khar-Vexar Academy
Related sections: → see [Volume IV, Ch.03, "Grammar: Overview"], → see [Volume IV, Ch.05, "Verbs and Tense"]
Introduction
The case system of Xha'Ruun is one of the most complete among known languages: 14 cases cover grammatical, spatial, and temporal relations. Agglutinative suffixes attach to the stem after the number suffix, which makes case marking transparent.
4.1 Case System
| No. | Case | Suffix | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nominative | -∅ | Who? What? | xha'ruun — people |
| 2 | Ergative | -sha | Who? (agent) | xha'ruun-sha — people (acts) |
| 3 | Accusative | -thar | Whom? What? | xha'ruun-thar — people (I see) |
| 4 | Dative | -ven | To whom? To what? | xha'ruun-ven — to the people |
| 5 | Genitive | -mor | Whose? | xha'ruun-mor — of the people |
| 6 | Instrumental | -khal | With what? | xha'ruun-khal — by/with the people |
| 7 | Comitative | -rass | With whom? | xha'ruun-rass — together with the people |
| 8 | Ablative | -tor | From where? | xha'ruun-tor — from the people |
| 9 | Inessive | -the | Where? (inside) | xha'ruun-the — in the people |
| 10 | Superessive | -vex | Where? (on) | xha'ruun-vex — on the people |
| 11 | Allative | -khar | To where? | xha'ruun-khar — toward the people |
| 12 | Translative | -el | Become what? | xha'ruun-el — (turn into) the people |
| 13 | Essive | -en | Be what? | xha'ruun-en — (as) the people |
| 14 | Terminative | -mor-thal | Until when? | xha'ruun-mor-thal — up to the people |
4.2 Grammatical Cases
Four cases mark the grammatical role:
- Nominative (-∅) — the subject of an intransitive verb;
- Ergative (-sha) — the agent of a transitive verb;
- Accusative (-thar) — the patient of a transitive verb;
- Dative (-ven) — the addressee.
This is tripartite alignment: intransitive S is unmarked, transitive A takes -sha, and transitive P takes -thar. Distinct marking of all three roles is not split ergativity.
4.3 Spatial Cases
Four cases localize an object:
- Inessive (-the) — inside;
- Superessive (-vex) — on the surface;
- Ablative (-tor) — movement from;
- Allative (-khar) — movement to;
- Movement through a place uses a separate construction; prolative is not a fifteenth case in this inventory.
The spatial system distinguishes rest, direction, and source.
4.4 Other Cases
- Genitive (-mor) — possession;
- Instrumental (-khal) — instrument;
- Comitative (-rass) — accompaniment;
- Translative (-el) — transformation;
- Essive (-en) — state;
- Terminative (-mor-thal) — limit.
4.5 Case and Number
Case suffixes attach after the number suffix: xha'ruun-ak-sha ("peoples-ERG"). The order is mandatory and reversible in analysis.
Chapter Summary
- 14 cases: 4 grammatical, 4 spatial, 6 other.
- Tripartite marking: S — ∅, A — -sha, P — -thar.
- Agglutinative suffixes after the number.
- The spatial system distinguishes rest, direction, source.
- Terminative (-mor-thal) — the compound case of limit.