Votian/Abessive

== Abessive ==

Pronunciation

 * Pronunciation of abessive suffixes varies according to vowel harmony e.g. iлmā leivä-ttä ('without bread' singular abessive ),  iлmā minu-tta  ('without me' singular abessive ),  iлmā pillī-ttä  ('musical instruments' plural abessive ),  iлmā лahjoi-ttā  ('musical instruments' plural abessive ).
 * The final vowel of abessive suffixes may be omitted depending in it's position in a sentence (especially in Jõgõperä  and Mati dialect) e.g.   jaлkoi-t̄     (" without legs "),  arvàme̮-t̄     (" without guessing " Jõgõperä dialect).

Morphophonology

 * Singular abessive is usually in a grade opposite to singular nominative, caused by consonant gradation in stems e.g.   leipä  ('bread' singular nominative) vs. iлmā leivä-ttä ( singular abessive ).
 * A  plural  stem is usually in the strong grade, if there is such a grade available e.g.  jaлkoi-t̄    (" leg " plural abessive) vs.  jaлga-D  (plural nominative).

Usage

 * 1) Abessive expresses being  without  something and is used generally with a  preposition   iлmā   - e.g.  iлmā minutta siä et   ̮ tunne̮ mennä   ('You cannot find your way without me .'),  jäin iлmā pillīttä  (' I lost my (musical) instruments .'),  tanttsi iлmā rivatta  (' She danced barelegs (with no gaiters).')

Dialectal alternatives

 * Votic of Ingria
 * Eastern Votic dialect
 * The suffix has an additional k.
 *  leivä-ttäG  ('without bread' singular abessive ),  minu-ttaG  ('without me' singular abessive )


 * Western


 * Valley dialect:
 * tt of the suffix may be degeminated e.g. Mati dialect iлmā leivä-tä ('without bread' singular abessive ),  puhassama-ta  ('without bread' singular abessive ).


 * Vaipooli


 * Jõgõperä dialect
 * The vowel of abessive suffix may be  -e, -e̮ .
 * e.g.  tšäe-tte  ( "without a hand" singular abessive ),  raha-tte̮  ( " without money" singular abessive )