 | ThisProto-Finnic entry containsreconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directlyattested, but are hypothesized to have existed based oncomparative evidence. |
FromProto-Uralic*śe(-j). Cognate withProto-Mordvinic*śä (whenceErzyaсе(se),Mokshaся(sä); final vowel perhaps by analogy withProto-Mordvinic*tä) and possiblyProto-Khanty*ćī (whenceNorthern Khanty[script needed](śi); the Khanty comparison is rejected by Kallio on basis of it relying on Proto-Uralic*ć, which Kallio remarks as likely of secondary origin, but debate on Proto-Uralic*ć ~*ś still continues).
Following Kallio (2020), the Finnic forms may have originally had a final*-j. This would explain the inessive*siinä and elative*siitä as deriving from earlier*sej-nä and*sej-tä, containing the same suffixes that, combined with*-s-, are found in the regular endings of the inessive (*-ssa <*-s-na) and the elative (*-sta <*-s-ta). The vowel would have been shortened in many other forms to simply*si- (specifically,*sej- >*si- originally in closed syllables); the essive*sinä and partitive*sitä (ultimately containing the same suffixes as the inessive and elative, respectively) have come about after this, and thus contain a short vowel. The genitive form (closed syllable) has*sej- >*se- due to its monosyllabic nature, and the nominative is likely analogous to it.*sei as the original form could also explain the Livonian development somewhat better.
Later analogy between the stems*se- ~*si- ~*sii- has further blurred the development, and this demonstrative pronoun goes under even more analogy in many descendants.
*se (plural*nek)
*se (plural*nek)
| Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility. | |||
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | *se | *nek | |
| accusative | *sen | *nek | |
| genitive | *sen | *neden *neiden *niiden | |
| partitive | *sitä | *neitä *niitä | |
| inessive | *siinä | *neissä *neihnä *niissä *niihnä | |
| elative | *siitä | *neistä *niistä | |
| illative | *sihen *siihen | *neisen *niisen | |
| adessive | *sillä | *neillä *niillä | |
| ablative | *siltä | *neiltä *niiltä | |
| allative | *silen *silek | *neilen *neilek *niilen *niilek | |
| essive | *sinä | *neinä *niinä | |
| translative | *siksi | *neiksi *niiksi | |
| instructive | *sen | *nein *niin | |
| comitative | *sinek | *neinek *niinek | |
| abessive | *sittä | *neittä *niittä | |