Votian/Partitive

== Partitive ==

Morphophonology and pronunciation

 * The singular partitive suffix takes a consonant stem if available e.g.  nōr-ta ('younger' singular partitive ) vs.  nōre̮-t  ( plural nominative ),  päivüt-tä ('sun' singular partitive ) vs.  päivǖ  ( singular genitive ).
 * Thus a singular partitive is usually in a grade opposite to plural nominative, caused by consonant gradation in stems e.g.  seppǟ  ('a blacksmith' singular partitive ) vs. sepäD ('blacksmiths'),  ammassa ('a tooth' singular partitive) vs. ampāD ('teeth').
 * Plural partitive is always in the strong grade  if available  e.g.  rataz ('wheel' singular nominative) vs. rattaita ( plural partitive ),  linnuD ('bird' plural nominative) vs. lintuita  ( plural partitive ).

Notice the following phonetic changes!
 * s + t > ss: e.g. nais-sa ('wife') < *nais-ta.
 * k + t > tt: e.g. sie̮t-ta ('tie') < *sie̮k-ta.
 * n and m have prolonged the preceding vowel:
 * m + t > nt after primary stress: e.g. лun-ta ('snow') < *лum-ta.
 * m + t >   ̄ t elsewhere: e.g.  ve̮tī-ta ('key') < *ve̮tin-ta < *ve̮tim-ta.
 * n + t >   ̄ t: e.g.  sēmē-tä ('seed') < *sēmen-ta.
 * h has been preserved in front of the partitive  -ta , but has (usually) disappeared from the end of words and in front of vowels :
 * *h + t > ht: e.g. erneh-tä ('pea') ~   erne (singular nominative),   ernēD < *herneh-et (plural nominative)


 * Pronunciation of partitive suffixes varies (  -ta  >  -ta, -tä ,  -ita  >  -ita, -itä  ) according to vowel harmony e.g. īr-tä ('mouse' singular partitive ),  e̮pe̮a-ta  ('silver' singular partitive ),  ne-itä  ('they' plural partitive ),  vasaroi-ta  ('hammers' plural partitive ).
 * The plural morpheme -ita has usually lost it's -ta component to be pronounced as a pure  plural stem   e.g. jaлka+ita > jaлkoi  ("leg" plural partitive ),  лahse̮+ita > лahsai  ("child" plural partitive ),  lino+ita > linoi  ("flax" plural partitive ),  mutukka+ita >  mutukkoi  ("insects" plural partitive ),  värttänī  ('spindle' plural partitive ),  e̮mī vellī  ("own brothers" plural partitive ),   me̮nikkai paлoi  ("some pieces" plural partitive ).
 * Yet this is not a general rule e.g. varkā+ita >  varkaita ("thieves" plural partitive ),  muna+ita >  mune̮ita  ("egg" plural partitive ),  einä+ita >  einoita  ("hay" plural partitive ),  tüttäre+ita >  tüttärītä   ("daughters" plural partitive ),   pillītä  ("musical instruments" plural partitive ),   ope̮zīta  ("horses" plural partitive ),   rikkāpīta  ("richer ones" plural partitive ).
 * t of partitive suffixes is usually omitted after a short vowel, because Finnic obstruents were weakened after unstressed syllables like in  consonant gradation of suffixes e.g.  lintu-a  ('bird' singular partitive ),  sepp-iä  ('blacksmiths' plural partitive ).
 * In such cases  ä  and  a  of the stem melt together with the vowel of partitive suffix into a single long vowel e.g. leipä+ta > leipä+ä >  leipǟ  ('bread' singular partitive ), lidna+ta > lidna+a >  lidnā  ('town' singular partitive ), vorotnikka+ta   > vorotnikka+a   >  vorotnikkā   ('collar' singular partitive )
 * t of partitive suffixes may have been preserved after secondary stress by some speakers ( in some dialects ) e.g.  e̮pe̮a-ta  ('silver' singular partitive ).
 * The final vowel of partitive suffixes may be omitted depending in it's position in a sentence (especially in Jõgõperä dialect) e.g.  kunni zvierid ve̮ittivad  ̮ lintuit  ('... as long as the quadrupeds were winning the birds ...'),  tuon süvvä sūri pähtšinīt i e̮une̮i  ('I bring (you) big nuts and apples to eat. '),  tütär e̮li ke̮rke̮at kazvua  ('The daughter was tall.') Lempola dialect.

Usage

 * 1) Partitive marks a matter which is measured. In such a case it's preceded by a quantity unit or a number e.g.   kahs pihua sūrimoi  ("Two handfuls of pearl-barley.").
 * 2) Countable nouns will be in singular e.g.   kahs pihua  ("Two handfuls.").
 * 3) Uncountable nouns will be in plural e.g.   pihu sūrimoi  ("A handful of pearl-barley.").
 * 4) Partitive, which expresses partiality, is opposed to  nominative , which marks the whole e.g.   ühs  pihu  sūrimoi  ("A handful of pearl-barley." Here the word  pihu  is in singular nominative.),  koko  pihu   ("A whole handful." ),  kõikk  sūrimaD   ("All the pearl-barley." Here the word  sūrimaD  is in plural nominative.).
 * 5) Partitive marks a  partial    subject   while  nominative   marks a  total subject   of a sentence e.g.  mā-mune̮ita lēB  ("There will be some potatoes (for you)." - plural partitive) vs.  māmunaD om pe̮lloll   ("(All the) potatoes (what we are talking about) are on the field." - plural nominative)
 * 6) See the page of  main cases  for further details.
 * 7) Partitive marks a  partial    object   while  nominative  or  genitive  mark a  total object  of a sentence e.g.   tōn süvvä lihā i ve̮ita    ("I'll bring (you) some meat and butter to eat." - singular partitive ) vs.  tōn lihā i ve̮i   ("I'll bring all the meat and butter." - singular genitive ).
 * 8) See the page of  main cases  for further details.
 * 9) Partitive marks a  partial    predicative   while  nominative  marks a  total predicative  of a sentence.
 * 10)   tämä naizikko on tōž soikkoлaisī  ('This woman also is a one of Soikkola Ingrians.' i.e. We emphasize, that she belongs to a group of certain quality - is a part of that group. - This is a partial predicative.)
 * 11)   tämä on soikkuлaine̮  ( Liivtšülä dialect 'This one is a Soikkola Ingrian.' i.e. We don't emphasize, that she belongs to that group. - This is a total predicative.)
 * 12) See the page of  main cases  for further details.
 * 13) Partitive marks time.
 * 14) If the time unit has an attribute, then the attribute only will be in  adessive , but the time unit itself is in  partitive  case - e.g.  senel̄   päivǟ  ('on that day'),  ühel̄    ke̮rtā tuli sūr tūli  ('Once there was a big wind')
 * 15) Partitive marks origin e.g.  tütär e̮li ke̮rke̮at kazvua  ('The daughter was tall.') Lempola dialect,   tämä naizikko on tōž soikkoлaisī  ('This woman also is a one of Soikkola Ingrians.'),   sika on üvǟ sukua  ('The pig is of a good breed.').
 * 16) Partitive marks cause e.g.  lezzellä e̮li itšävä mēssä  ('The widow longed for her husband.').
 * 17) Partitive marks direction e.g.  tämä taitšinākā viskazi īrtä  ('She threw dough towards the mouse.').
 * 18) Partitive is used with  comparison  e.g.  ke̮ikke̮a sūre̮p pojo  ('a boy bigger than all the others = the biggest boy'),   miä e̮лe̮n paĺĺo vanapi teitä  ('I'm much older than you.') ,   ke̮rke̮apaлt lidnā   ('higher than the town').
 * 19) Partitive is used with certain  postpositions and prepositions  e.g.  enne se̮tā   ('before the war').

Dialectal alternatives

 * Votic of Ingria


 * Western
 * Hill dialect:
 * All Votic (both eastern and western) dialects may use doubled partitive  marker ( depending in vowel harmony )  -ata, -ätä  (especially the  Kattila dialect) e.g.   leipǟtä  ('bread' singular partitive ),  vävüätä  ('son in law' singular partitive ),  nōre̮pāta  ('younger' singular partitive ).


 * Vaipooli


 * Jõgõperä dialect
 * The vowel of partitive suffix may be  -e, -e̮ .
 * e.g.  pǟ-te  ( "head" singular partitive ),  mu-ite̮  ( "others" plural partitive ),   lähet-te  ( "spring ~ water source " singular partitive )