Votian/Comitative

Comitative
=== Postposition ===

Phonological history and morphophonology

 * This kind of Votian, Estonian and Livonian  comitative marker  has been developed from a  postposition , which is still used by other  Baltic Finnic dialects with  genitive  e.g.  Finnish   minu-n  kanssa   (' with  me' < *kansassa  ).
 * In Votian dialects  it still contains a  genitive  marker
 * in singular  jaлgākā  (" with a foot ")
 * in plural (  jaлkoikā  = " with feet "), it usually follows a  short  plural genitive.
 * One syllable vowel stems use the full plural genitive  e.g.  pū-iten kan'  >  pud́d́ēkā   ('with trees' plural comitative ).


 * Thus any comitative is in the same grade  as  genitive.

'' Many linguists of the 19. and 20. century interpreted this kind of comitative as a postposition  rather than a case. ''

Pronunciation

 * The comitative suffix is pronounced  -kā . It does not vary according to vowel harmony e.g.  ope̮ze̮-n kan' >  ope̮zē̮kā  ('with a horse' singular comitative ),  tüttäre-n kan'  >  tüttärēkā  ('with a daughter' singular comitative ),  tüttäre-in kan'  >  tüttärīkā  ('with daughters' plural comitative )
 * The final vowel of comitative suffixes may be shortened or even omitted depending in it's position in a sentence e.g.  tanttsi   m o r o z o v ā   poigāk    (" She danced with Morozova's son. " Mati dialect),  te̮in-te̮izē̮G    (" with each-others "  Kõrvõttula dialect),  menim̄   izä̀kà nīttämǟ    (" We went to mow with our father. "),  tappe̮li karùkà    (" He fought against a bear. "  Jõgõperä dialect).

Agreement

 * Unlike in most of the other cases in comitative there is no agreement  between adjectives and nouns in case, but a noun follows an adjective in genitive e.g.  kaĺaska kaunī rattaikā  (' a coach with red wheels ').
 * There may be poetic exceptions e.g.  mesizīkā mēlīkā  (' with honeyed minds ').

Usage
Comitative may express
 * 1)  time  - e.g.  miä e̮лe̮n üö-päivɛ̆ä̀kā karjuššin̄    (' I'm tending a cattle the whole day and night long .' Lempola dialect)
 * 2) being  together with  somebody - e.g.  eli izǟkā ja emǟkā  (' She lived with her father and mother .'),  nämäd ̮ menivät ̮ poigākā  (' They went with their son .' Lempola dialect),  tšenēkā siä isud ̮ rinnā ?  (' Whom are you sitting next to? '),  jutte̮li tüttärikkoikā  (' He was speaking with girls. '),  e̮lin lehmīkā karjaza  (' I was tending cows. ')
 * 3) being  equipped with  something - e.g.  verēkā varvaz  (' bleeding toe'),  e̮unappū e̮une̮ikā  (' an appletree with apples '),  seittsemē paikākā  (' with seven patches '),  kaĺaska kaunī rattaikā  (' a coach with red wheels '),  mikä pǟkā on?  (' What's wrong with your head? '),  tuli vaĺeŋkoikā rihēsē  (' He came in (to a chamber) felt boots on. ')
 * 4)  a mean to do something with  (Comitative is used in this sence more often than  adessive .) - e.g.  taллaz ̮ jaлgākā  (' She treaded (? a spinning-wheel) with her foot .'),  rikke̮   ke̮ik̄   pād ̮ ope̮zē̮kā  (' He broke all the pots with his horse .'),  se̮ve̮ttī üvī ke̮ikē̮kā  (' He dressed her well with everything. '),  ke̮re̮tākā paŋge̮t ̮ pihaллa  (' (She holds) buckets on her shoulders with a yoke. ')
 * 5)  a way to do something  (Used instead of essive influenced by Russian.) - e.g.  e̮limma tȫzä artelīkā  (' We were working in a crowd .')

Dialectal alternatives

 * Kukkuzi dialect
 * Pronunciation of comitative suffix varies according to vowel harmony  -kā, -kǟ  e.g.  лahsēkā  ('with a child' singular comitative ),  lehmǟkǟ  ('with a cow' singular comitative ).

=== Suffix ===

Phonological history
The morpheme na'n is probably composed of instructive  component -n + 3. person's singular hen. It has a counterpart in Finnish,  Karelian  and even in  Mordvinic   -ńek .

Pronunciation

 * Pronunciation of this comitative suffix varies according to vowel harmony  -nā, -nǟ  e.g.  ke̮ikke̮-ina'n >  ke̮ikkinā  ("generally, everyone"),  pe̮лve̮-ina'n  >  pe̮лvinā  ("on knees"),  naisi-ina'n  >  naisinā  ("with wives"),  ke̮ik̄  te̮ize̮t perei-nǟ tuллas̄    ("All the others come with their families.")
 * The final vowel of comitative suffixes may be shortened depending in it's position in a sentence " -nà, -nä̀ ".

Usage
Suffixal comitative may express
 * 1) being  together with  somebody - e.g.  tuлe̮mma poigad ̮ naisinā  (' We sons shall come with our wives .'),  ke̮ik̄   te̮ize̮t pereinǟ tuллas̄    ("All the others come with their families."),  te̮mpazin pū jūri-nā  (' I pulled a tree out with its roots. ')
 * 2)  a mean to do something with  - e.g.  miä ve̮tan tšäsinǟ  ("I'll take with my hands."),  лutisap ̮ se̮rminā  (' He squeezes with his fingers .')
 * 3)  a way to do something  - e.g.  ne̮isivat ̮ pe̮лvinā  (' They kneeled down .'),  e̮hsinā päivinǟ tōmma pū kotōsē̮  ("We shall bring the tree home with all the twigs and everything.")
 * 4)  number  - e.g.  ühsinǟ ~ ühsnǟ    ("alone")
 * 5) Prolative has been preserved in some  adverbs - e.g.  tšäsinǟ  (" (made) by hands " ),  se̮rminā  (" (made) by fingers " ),  pe̮лvinā  (" on (ones) knees " ),

Dialectal alternatives

 * Votic of Ingria


 * Western


 * Vaipooli


 * Jõgõperä dialect
 * The vowel of abessive suffix may be  -ē, -ē̮  like in Ingrian.
 * e.g.  te̮mpe̮z ̮ jūri-nē̮  ( " extracted with roots "),  perè-nè i poiki-kà  ( " with family and sons ")