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Theoptative mood (/ˈɒptətɪv/OP-tə-tiv or/ɒpˈteɪtɪv/op-TAY-tiv;[1]abbreviatedOPT) is agrammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope regarding a givenaction.[2] It is asuperset of thecohortative mood and is closely related to thesubjunctive mood but is distinct from thedesiderative mood.English has no morphological optative, but various constructions impute an optative meaning. Examples of languages with a morphological optative mood areAncient Greek,Albanian,Armenian,Georgian,Friulian,Kazakh,Kurdish,Navajo,Old Prussian,Old Persian,Sanskrit,Turkish, andYup'ik.[3]
Although English has nomorphological optative, analogous constructions impute an optative meaning, including the use of certainmodal verbs:
Periphrastic constructions includeif only together with asubjunctive complement:
The optative mood can also be expressedelliptically:
The cohortative verb phraseslet's (orlet us) represent a syntactical mood as a subset of the optative mood:
The optative is one of the four original moods ofProto-Indo-European (the other three being theindicative mood, thesubjunctive mood, and theimperative mood). However, many Indo-European languages lost the inherited optative, either as a formal category, or functional, i.e. merged it with the subjunctive, or even replaced the subjunctive with optative.
InAlbanian, the optative (mënyra dëshirore, lit. "wishing mood") expresses wishes, and is also used in curses and swearing.
InAncient Greek, the optative is used to express wishes andpotentiality inindependent clauses (but also has other functions, such as contrary-to-fact expressions in the present[4]). Independent clauses (purpose, temporal,conditional, andindirect speech), the optative is often used underpast-tense main verbs. The optative expressing a wish is on its own or preceded by the particleεἴθε (eithe). The optative expressing potentiality is always accompanied by the untranslatable particle ἄν in an independent clause and is on its own in a dependent clause.
Εἴθε
Eíthe
βάλλοις
bállois
Εἴθε βάλλοις
Eíthebállois
"If only you would throw."
Χαίροιμι
Khaíroimi
ἄν,
án,
εἰ
ei
πορεύοισθε
poreúoisthe
Χαίροιμι ἄν, εἰ πορεύοισθε
Khaíroimián,eiporeúoisthe
"I would be glad, if you could travel."
InKoine Greek, the optative began to be replaced by thesubjunctive; in theNew Testament, it was primarily used in set phrases.
Its endings are characterized by a diphthong such asοι (oi) inthematic verbs andι in athematic verbs.
SomeGermanic verb forms often known assubjunctives are actually descendants of theProto-Indo-European optative. TheGothic present subjunctivenimai "may he take!" may be compared to Ancient Greek present optativeφέροι "may he bear!"[5] That the oldIndo-European optative is represented by thesubjunctive is clear in Gothic, which lost the old, "true" Indo-European subjunctive that represented a fixed desire and intent. Its function was adopted by the present form of the optative that reflected only possibilities, unreal things and general wishes at first.
A Germanic innovation of form and functionality was the past tense of the optative, which reflected theirrealis of past and future. This is shown by evidence in theGothic language,Old High German,Old English, andOld Norse. This use of the (new) optative past tense as an irrealis mood started apparently after the Proto-Germanic past tense that had been once theperfect tense supplanted the Indo-Germanaorist (compare Euler 2009:184).
A somewhat archaicDutch saying,Leve de Koning ("long live the king") is another example of how the optative still is present in Germanic languages today.
Likewise in Latin, the newer subjunctive is based on the Indo-European optative. With this change in Latin, several old subjunctive forms became future forms. Accordingly, theprohibitive (negative desire and prohibition) was formed with the combination of *ne + verb form in the optative present.
InRomanian, theconditional and optative moods have identical forms, thus being commonly referred to as the conditional-optative mood.
InSanskrit, the optative is formed by adding the secondary endings to the verb stem. It sometimes expresses wishes, requests and commands:bharescode: san promoted to code: sa "may you bear" (active voice) andbharethāscode: san promoted to code: sa "may you bear [for yourself]" (middle). It also expresses possibilities (e.g.kadācid goṣabdena budhyetacode: san promoted to code: sa "he might perhaps wake up due to the bellowing of cows")[6] or doubt and uncertainty (e.g.,katham vidyām Nalamcode: san promoted to code: sa "how would I be able to recognize Nala?"). The optative is sometimes used instead of aconditional mood.
Zuberoan dialect has a special mood, calledBotiboa (Votive), and unknown to the other dialects, used for making wishes. The auxiliary verb, whose characteristic is the prefixai-, always precedes the main verb and, in negative wishes, also the negative adverbez (meaningno, not):
InStandard Basque, like in all the other dialects, such wishes are made with the particleahal, and the future indicative tense:
All the dialects have verbal forms in the imperative mood (Agintera), even for commands concerning the 3rd person, both singular and plural:
For commands concerning the 1st person, present subjunctive forms are used:
InFinnish, the optative or the secondimperative, is archaic, mainly appearing inpoetry, and used insuppletion with the first imperative. It is formed using thesuffixes -ko- and -kö-, depending onvowel harmony, whereas the first imperative uses the suffixes -ka- and -kä-, both cases subjected toconsonant gradation; for instance,kävellös (thou shalt walk) is the active voice second person singular in present optative of the verbkävellä (to walk), andällös kävele is the negative (don’t walk). (The corresponding first imperative forms arekävele andälä kävele.)[7]
Altogether there can be constructed 28 verb inflections in the optative, complete with active and passive voice, present and perfect, three person forms both in singular and plural and a formal plural form. Most, if not all, of these forms are, however, utterly rare and are not familiar to non-professionals. Only some expressions have remained in day-to-day speech; for instance, one can be heard to sayollos hyvä instead ofole hyvä ("you're welcome" or "here you go"). This form carries an exaggerated, jocular connotation.
Optative formality can be expressed with the 1st and the 2nd imperative. For example, the ninth Article of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights begins withÄlköön ketään pidätettäkö mielivaltaisesti, "Not anyoneshall be arrested arbitrarily", whereälköön pidätettäkö "shall not be arrested" is the imperative ofei pidätetä "is not arrested". (Also, using the conditional mood-isi- in conjunction with the clitic-pa yields an optative meaning, e.g.olisinpa "if I only were". Here, it is evident that the wish is not, and probably will not be, fulfilled.)
The Japanese optative is formed by using a conditional such asba (-ば) ortara (-たら). For example, "I wish there were more time" is expressed literally as "If there were time, it would be good." (時間があれば良いのにJikan ga areba ii noni.), wherearu, the verb expressing existence, is in theba conditional formareba.Ii is the present (or non-past) tense of "good," but if expressed in the past tenseyokatta よかった, the sentence expresses regret instead of a wish or hope. The above example would become "If there had been time, it would have been good" 時間があればよかったのに, as might be said of an opportunity missed because of a lack of time.
The optative mood can also be expressed by suffixing 様にyō ni to the verb, typically the polite form. For instance, "may you have a pleasant trip" 楽しい旅になります様に.
Although Biblical Hebrew does not have a dedicated optative mood like Ancient Greek or Sanskrit, it frequently expresses optative-like constructions through rhetorical questions, especially those beginning with the interrogative pronoun מי (mi, meaning "who"). These are often used to convey longing or wishful thinking, particularly in poetic and prophetic contexts.
An example of optative-like construct in Hebrew is מי יתן (mi yiten), literally "Who will give?" This phrase is used to express a deep, often unattainable desire inJob 6:8:
This conveys the speaker's longing for something beyond their control, functioning similarly to the optative mood in other languages.
Another example is in theTalmud (Avodah Zarah 10b): מי ישים (mi yasim), meaning "Who will place?" This phrase appears in contexts of rhetorical longing:
These expressions convey humility and the hope for something only a higher power could grant, akin to the optative mood in expressing desires or hypotheticals.
These rhetorical questions in Hebrew serve a similar function to the optative mood, providing a way to express wishes, hopes, or desires that cannot be directly commanded or expected.[8]
The Mongolian optative or "wishing form" (Хүсэх Хэлбэр) is used largely to "tell another person about a wish not connected to the listener".[9] Colloquially, however, it can also be used for a wishful second person imperative. It is formed by joining the suffix -аасай/-ээсэй/-оосой to the root stem of the verb. e.g.Үзэх= to see. үз—ээсэй.
Миний
Minii
дүнг
düng
ээж
eej
үзээсэй
üzeesei.
Миний дүнг ээж үзээсэй
Minii düng eej üzeesei.
"If only mum could see my results."
It can also be used to form wishes in the past tense.
Чи
Chi
ирсэн
irsen
баиж
baij
ч
ch
болоосой
boloosoi.
Чи ирсэн баиж ч болоосой
Chi irsen baij ch boloosoi.
"If only you had come."
InSumerian, the optative of the 1st person is formed differently from the other persons:
| Person | Designation | Example (Sumerian) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Cohortative/hortative | ga-na-b-dug | I want to say it to him/her |
| 2./3. | Precative | ḫe-mu-ù-zu | You should experience it |
Thereby, take note that the "normal" indicator of the 1st person in thecohortative (would be asuffix-en) is mostly omitted, as with the cohortativeprefix, the 1st person is already expressed. In the case of the precative, the personal indicator has to be used to differentiate between the 2nd and 3rd person.
InBalkar, aTurkic language spoken in theNorth Caucasus, thedesiderivative optative is formed by the suffix -ʁa followed by anauxiliary verb:
ders
lesson
terkiraq
soon
ders terkiraq bošal-ʁa e-di
lesson soon finish-DES.OPT AUX-PST
"I wish this lesson would be over soon!"
The optative inTurkish is part of thewish mood (dilek kipi) which reflects the command, desire, necessity, or wish. It has several semantic nuances. For instance, the word for "to come" (infinitive:gelmek) is modified in the optative togeleyim. This creates also a one-word sentence and means according to thecontext
Takes the-a or-e suffix.
It takes the-sa or-se suffix. The following example reflect a wish:
The dictionary definition ofoptative mood at Wiktionary