Ingrammar, thevocative case (abbreviatedVOC) is agrammatical case which is used for anoun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners,adjectives,participles, andnumerals) of that noun. Avocative expression is an expression of direct address by which the identity of the party spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence. For example, in the sentence "I don't know, John,"John is a vocative expression that indicates the party being addressed, as opposed to the sentence "I don't know John", in which "John" is thedirect object of the verb "know".
Historically, the vocative case was an element of the Indo-European case system and existed inLatin,Sanskrit, andAncient Greek. In many modern Indo-European languages (English, Spanish, etc.) the vocative case has been absorbed by the nominative, but others still distinguish it, including theBaltic languages, someCeltic languages and mostSlavic languages. Some linguists, such asAlbert Thumb [de], argue that the vocative form is not a case but a special form of nouns not belonging to any case, as vocative expressions are not related syntactically to other words in sentences.[1]Pronouns usually lack vocative forms.
Distinct vocative forms are assumed to have existed in all earlyIndo-European languages and survive in some. Here is, for example, the Indo-European word for "wolf" in various languages:
The elements separated with hyphens denote the stem, the so-called thematic vowel of the case and the actual suffix. In Latin, for example, the nominative case islupus and the vocative case islupe, but the accusative case islupum. The asterisks before the Proto-Indo-European words means that they are theoretical reconstructions and are not attested in a written source. The symbol ◌̩ (vertical line below) indicates a consonant serving as a vowel (it should appear directly below the "l" or "r" in these examples but may appear after them on some systems from issues of font display). All final consonants were lost in Proto-Slavic, so both the nominative and vocative Old Church Slavonic forms do not have true endings, only reflexes of the old thematic vowels.
The vocative ending changes the stem consonant in Old Church Slavonic because of the so-called First Palatalization. Most[citation needed] modern Slavic languages that retain the vocative case have altered the ending to avoid the change: Bulgarianвълко occurs far more frequently thanвълче.
The vocative is distinct in singular and identical to the nominative in the plural, for all inflected nouns. Nouns with a nominative singular ending in-a have a vocative singular usually identically written but distinct in accentuation.
In Lithuanian, the form that a given noun takes depends on its declension class and, sometimes, on its gender. There have been several changes in history, the last being the-ai ending formed between the 18th and 19th centuries. The older forms are listed under "other forms".
Masculine nouns
Nominative
Vocative
Translation
Feminine nouns
Nominative
Vocative
Translation
Current standard
Other forms
Current standard
Other forms
o-stems
vilkas
vilke!
wolf
a-stems
tautà [sg.]
taũta!
people
jo-stems
vėjas
vėjau!
Old. Lith.vėje!
wind
e-stems
katė
kate!
cat
ijo-stems
gaidys
gaidy!
rooster
i-stems
avis
avie!
sheep
a-stems
viršilà
viršìla!
sergeant-major
r-stems
duktė
dukterie!
dukter!
daughter
e-stems
dėdė
dėde!
uncle
irregular
marti
marti/marčia!
daughter-in-law
i-stems
vagis
vagie!
thief
proper names
Dalià
Dãlia!
u-stems
sūnus
sūnau!
son
diminutives
sesutė
sesut(e)!
little sister
n-stems
vanduo
vandenie!
vanden!
water
proper names
Jonas
Jonai!
Old Lith.Jone!
John
diminutives
sūnelis
sūneli!
little son
Some nouns of the e- and a- stems declensions (both proper ones and not) are stressed differently: "aikštė": "aikšte!" (square); "tauta": "tauta!". In addition, nouns of e-stems have anablaut of long vowelė in nominative and short vowele/ɛ/ in vocative. In pronunciation,ė isclose-mid vowel[eː], ande is open-mid vowel/ɛ/.
The vocative of diminutive nouns with the suffix-(i)ukas most frequently has no ending:broliùk "brother!", etc. A less frequent alternative is the ending-ai, which is also slightly dialectal:broliùkai, etc.
Colloquially, some personal names with a masculine-(i)(j)o stem and diminutives with the suffixes-elis, -ėlis have an alternative vocative singular form characterized by a zero ending (i.e. the stem alone acts as the voc. sg.):Adõm "Adam!" in addition toAdõmai,Mýkol "Michael!" in addition toMýkolai,vaikẽl "kid!" in addition tovaikẽli, etc.
The vocative case inIrish operates in a similar fashion to Scottish Gaelic. The principal marker is the vocative particlea, which causeslenition of the following initial letter.
In the singular there is no special form, except for first declension nouns. These are masculine nouns that end in a broad (non-palatal) consonant, which is made slender (palatal) to build the singular vocative (as well as the singular genitive and plural nominative). Adjectives are alsolenited. In many cases this means that (in the singular) masculine vocative expressions resemble thegenitive and feminine vocative expressions resemble thenominative.
The vocative plural is usually the same as the nominative plural except, again, for first declension nouns. In the standard language first declension nouns show the vocative plural by adding-a. In the spoken dialects the vocative plural is often has the same form as the nominative plural (as with the nouns of other declensions) or the dative plural (e.g.A fhearaibh! = Men!)
The vocative case inScottish Gaelic follows the same basic pattern as Irish. The vocative case causeslenition of the initial consonant of nouns. Lenition changes the initial sound of the word (or name).
In addition, masculine nouns are slenderized if possible (that is, in writing, an 'i' is inserted before the final consonant) This also changes the pronunciation of the word.
Also, the particlea is placed before the noun unless it begins with a vowel (or f followed immediately by a vowel, which becomes silent when lenited). Examples of the use of the vocative personal names (as in Irish):
Nominative case
Vocative case
Caitrìona
a Chaitrìona
Dòmhnall
a Dhòmhnaill
Màiri
a Mhàiri
Seumas
a Sheumais
Ùna
Ùna
cù
a choin
bean
a bhean
duine
a dhuine
The name "Hamish" is just the English spelling ofSheumais (the vocative ofSeumas and pronouncedˈheːmɪʃ), and thus is actually a Gaelic vocative. Likewise, the name "Vairi" is an English spelling ofMhàiri, the vocative forMàiri.
The basic pattern is similar to Irish and Scottish. The vocative is confined to personal names, in which it is common. Foreign names (not of Manx origin) are not used in the vocative. The vocative case causeslenition of the initial consonant of names. It can be used with the particle "y".
Nominative case
Vocative case
Juan
y Yuan
Donal
y Ghonal
Moirrey
y Voirrey
Catreeney
y Chatreeney
John
John
The nameVoirrey is actually the Manx vocative ofMoirrey (Mary).
Sign at Aberystwyth University in Welsh displaying use of the vocative case –myfyrwyr'students' mutated tofyfyrwyr
Welsh lacks case declension but marks vocative constructions by lenition of the initial consonant of the word, with no obligatory particle. Despite its use being less common, it is still used in formal address: the common phrasefoneddigion a boneddigesau means "gentlemen and ladies", with the initial consonant ofboneddigion undergoing a soft mutation; the same is true ofgyfeillion ("[dear] friends") in whichcyfeillion has been lenited. It is often used to draw attention to at public notices orally and written – teachers will say "Blant" (mutation ofplant'children') and signage such as one right show mutation ofmyfyrwyr'students' to draw attention to the importance of the notice.
Look upO#Particle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The vocative is not a grammatical case in English. Expressions for which the vocative would be used in languages which have that case, are nominative in English. In translations of languages that use the vocative case, translators have added theparticle "O" before the noun, as is often seen in theKing James Version of theBible: for example the Greekὀλιγόπιστοι, vocative masculine plural, (inMatthew 8:26) is translated "O ye of little faith". While it is not strictly archaic, it is sometimes used to "archaeise" speech; it is often seen as very formal, and sees use in rhetoric and poetry, or as a comedic device to subvert modern speech. Another example is the recurrent use of the phrase "O (my) Best Beloved" byRudyard Kipling in hisJust So Stories. The use ofO may be considered a form ofclitic and should not be confused with the interjectionoh.[2] However, as theOxford English Dictionary points out, "O" and "oh" were originally used interchangeably.
Modern English commonly uses the objective case for vocative expressions but sets them off from the rest of the sentences with pauses as interjections, rendered in writing as commas (thevocative comma[3][4]). Two common examples of vocative expressions in English are the phrases "Mr. President" and "Madam Chairwoman".[clarification needed]
Some traditional texts useJesu, the Latin vocative form ofJesus. One of the best-known examples isJesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.
In someGerman dialects, like theRipuarian dialect ofCologne, it is common to use the (gender-appropriate) article before a person's name. In the vocative phrase then the article is, as in Venetian and Catalan, omitted. Thus, the determiner precedes nouns in all cases except the vocative. Any noun not preceded by an article or other determiner is in the vocative case. It is most often used to address someone or some group of living beings, usually in conjunction with an imperative construct. It can also be used to address dead matter as if the matter could react or to tell something astonishing or just happening such as "Your nose is dripping."
The vocative case generally does not appear inIcelandic, but a few words retain an archaic vocative declension from Latin, such as the wordJesús, which isJesú in the vocative. That comes from Latin, as the Latin for Jesus in the nominative isJesus and its vocative isJesu.That is also the case in traditional English (without the accent) (seeabove):
Look upó#Icelandic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Nominative
Jesús elskar þig.
Jesus loves you.
Vocative
ÓJesú, frelsari okkar.
O Jesus, our saviour.
The native wordssonur'son' andvinur'friend' also sometimes appear in the shortened formsson andvin in vocative phrases. Additionally, adjectives in vocative phrases are always weakly declined, but elsewhere with proper nouns, they would usually be declined strongly:
Nouns inNorwegian are not inflected for the vocative case, but adjectives qualifying those nouns are; adjectivaladjunctsmodifying vocative nouns are inflected for thedefinite (see:Norwegian language#Adjectives).[5]: 223–224 The definite and plural inflections are in most cases identical, so it is more easily observable with adjectives that inflect for plural and definite differently, e.g.liten beinglille when definite, butsmå when plural, an instance ofsuppletion.[5]: 116
Non-vocative
Vocative
English translation
kjær venn
kjære venn
dear friend
vis mann
vise mann
wise man
liten katt
lille katt
little cat
In several Norwegian dialects, north of anisogloss running fromOslo toBergen,names inargument position are associated withproprial articles, e.g. genderedpronouns such ashan'he' orhun'she', which either precede or follow the noun in question.[6] This is not the case when in vocative constructions.[7]
InAncient Greek, the vocative case is usually identical to the nominative case, with the exception of first-declension masculine nouns (ending in -ας or -ης), second-declension non-neuter nouns (ending in -ος) and third-declension non-neuter nouns.
In the first declension, masculines in -ᾱς have the vocative in -ᾱ (νεᾱνίᾱ); those in -της have -ᾰ (πολῖτα), all others in -ης have -η (Ἀτρείδη) except names of nations and compounds: Πέρσᾰ, Σκύθᾰ, γεω-μέτρᾰ, παιδο-τρίβᾰ.Δεσπότης has a recessive accent vocativeδέσποτα. Second-declension masculine and feminine nouns have a regular vocative ending in -ε. Third-declension nouns with one syllable ending in -ς have a vocative that is identical to the nominative (νύξ, night); otherwise, the stem (with necessary alterations, such as dropping final consonants) serves as the vocative (nom.πόλις, voc.πόλι; nom.σῶμα, gen.σώματος, voc.σῶμα). Irregular vocatives exist as well, such as nom. Σωκράτης, voc. Σώκρατες.
InModern Greek, second-declension masculine nouns still have a vocative ending in -ε. However, the accusative case is often used as a vocative in informal speech for a limited number of nouns, and always used for certain modern Greek person names: "Έλα εδώ, Χρήστο" "Come here, Christos" instead of "...Χρήστε". Other nominal declensions use the same form in the vocative as the accusative in formal or informal speech, with the exception of learnedKatharevousa forms that are inherited from Ancient GreekἝλλην (DemoticΈλληνας, "Greek man"), which have the same nominative and vocative forms instead.[8]
Kurdish has a vocative case. For instance, in the dialect ofKurmanji, it is created by adding the suffix-o at the end ofmasculine words and the-ê suffix at the end offeminine ones. In theJafi dialect ofSorani it is created by adding the suffix of-i at the end of names.
Kurmanji
Jafi
Name
Vocative
Name
Vocative
Sedad (m)
Sedo
Bêstûn
Bêsi
Wedad (m)
Wedo
Reşîd
Reşo
Baran (m)
Baro
Sûret
Sûri
Nazdar (f)
Nazê
Fatime
Fati
Gulistan (f)
Gulê
Firset
Firsi
Berfîn (f)
Berfê
Nesret
Nesi
Instead of the vocative case, forms of address may be created by using the grammatical particleslê (feminine) andlo (masculine):
InHindi-Urdu (Hindustani), the vocative case has the same form as the nominative case for all singular nouns except for the singular masculine nouns that terminate in the vowelआ/aː/ā and for all nouns in their plural forms the vocative case is always distinct from the nominative case.[9] Adjectives inHindi-Urdu also have a vocative case form. In the absence of a noun argument, some adjectives decline like masculine nouns that do not end inआ/aː/ā.[10] The vocative case has many similarities with theoblique case in Hindustani.
Noun Classes
Singular
Plural
English
Nominative
Vocative
Nominative
Vocative
Masculine
ending inआā
लड़काlaṛkā
लड़केlaṛke
लड़कोंlaṛkõ
boy
not ending inआā
इंसानinsān
इंसानोंinsānõ
human
Feminine
ending inईī
लड़कीlaṛkī
लड़कियाँlaṛkiyā̃
लड़कियोंlaṛkiyõ
girl
not ending inईī
माताmātā
माताएँmātāẽ
माताओंmātāõ
mother
चिड़ियाciṛiyā
चिड़ियाँciṛiyā̃
चिड़ियोंciṛiyõ
bird
Adjective Classes
Singular
Plural
English
Nominative
Vocative
Nominative
Vocative
Declinable
masculine
बुराburā
बुरेbure
bad
feminine
बुरीburī
Undeclinable (not ending in-ā or-ī in nominative singular)
InSanskrit, the vocative (सम्बोधन विभक्तिsambodhana vibhakti) has the same form as the nominative except in the singular. In vowel-stem nouns, if there is a-ḥ in the nominative, it is omitted and the stem vowel may be altered:-ā and-ĭ become-e,-ŭ becomes-o,-ī and-ū become short and-ṛ becomes-ar. Consonant-stem nouns have no ending in the vocative:
Noun
Singular
Dual
Plural
बाल (bāla, masc., 'boy')
हे बालhe bāla
हे बालौhe bālau
हे बालाःhe bālāḥ
लता (latā, fem., 'creeper')
हे लतेhe late
हे लतेhe late
हे लताःhe latāḥ
फलम् (phalam, neut., 'fruit')
हे फलम्he phalam
हे फलेhe phale
हे फलानिhe phalāni
The vocative form is the same as the nominative except in the masculine and feminine singular.
Old Church Slavonic has a distinct vocative case for many stems of singular masculine and feminine nouns, otherwise it is identical to the nominative. When different from the nominative, the vocative is simply formed from the nominative by appending either-e (rabŭ :rabe'slave') or-o (ryba :rybo'fish'), but occasionally-u (krai :kraju'border',synŭ :synu'son',vračĭ :vraču'physician') and'-i' (kostĭ :kosti'bone',gostĭ :gosti'guest',dĭnĭ :dĭni'day',kamy :kameni'stone') appear. Nouns ending with-ĭcĭ have a vocative ending of-če (otĭcĭ :otĭče'father',kupĭcĭ :kupĭče'merchant'), likewise nouns ending with-dzĭ assume the vocative suffix-že (kŭnědzĭ :kŭněže'prince'). This is similar to Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, and Sanskrit, which also employ the-e suffix in vocatives.[11][12]
Unlike most otherSlavic languages,Bulgarian has lost case marking for nouns. However, Bulgarian preserves vocative forms. Traditional male names usually have a vocative ending.
Nominative
Vocative
ПетърPetar
ПетреPetre
ТодорTodor
ТодореTodore
ИванIvan
ИванеIvane
More-recent names and foreign names may have a vocative form but it is rarely used (Ричарде, instead of simplyРичард Richard, sounds unusual or humorous to native speakers).
Vocative phrases likeгосподине министре (Mr. Minister) have been almost completely replaced by nominative forms, especially in official writing. Proper nouns usually also have vocative forms, but they are used less frequently. Here are some proper nouns that are frequently used in vocative:
English word
Nominative
Vocative
God
БогBog
БожеBozhe
Lord
ГосподGospod
ГосподиGospodi
Jesus Christ
Исус ХристосIsus Hristos
ИсусеХристеIsuse Hriste
comrade
другарdrugar
другарюdrugaryu
priest
попpop
попеpope
frog
жабаzhaba
жабоzhabo
fool
глупакglupak
глупакоglupako
Vocative case forms also normally exist for female given names:
Nominative
Vocative
ЕленаElena
ЕленоEleno
ПенаPena
ПеноPeno
ЕлицаElitsa
ЕлицеElitse
РадкаRadka
РадкеRadke
Except for forms that end in -е, they are considered rude and are normally avoided. For female kinship terms, the vocative is always used:
In older common Czech (19th century), vocative form was sometimes replaced by nominative form in case of female names (Lojzka, dej pokoj!) and in case of male nouns past a title (pane učitel!,pane továrník!,pane Novák!). This phenomenon was caused mainly by the German influence,[13] and almost disappeared from the modern Czech. It can be felt as rude, discourteous or uncultivated, or as familiar, and is associated also with Slovakian influence (from the Czechoslovak Army) or Russian.[14] In informal speech, it is common (but grammatically incorrect[15]) to use the malesurname (see alsoCzech name) in the nominative to address men:pane Novák! instead ofpane Nováku! (Female surnames areadjectives, and their nominative and vocative have the same form: seeCzech declension.) Using the vocative is strongly recommended in official and written styles.
InPolish, the vocative (wołacz) is formed with feminine nouns usually taking-o except those that end in-sia,-cia,-nia, and-dzia, which take-u, and those that end in-ść, which take-i. Masculine nouns generally follow the complex pattern of thelocative case, with the exception of a handful of words such asBóg → Boże'God',ojciec → ojcze'father' andchłopiec → chłopcze'boy'. Neuter nouns and all plural nouns have the same form in the nominative and the vocative:
The latter form of the vocative ofczłowiek'human' is now considered poetical.
Thenominative is increasingly used instead of the vocative to address people with their proper names. In other contexts the vocative remains prevalent. It is used:
To address an individual with the function, title, other attribute, family role
Nie rozumiesz mnie, moja droga Basiu! (You don't understand me, my dear Basia!)
To address an individual in an offensive or condescending manner:
Zamknij się, pajacu! ("Shut up, you buffoon!")
Co się gapisz, idioto? ("What are you staring at, idiot?")
Nie znasz się, baranie, to nie pisz! ("Stop writing, idiot, you don't know what you're doing!")
Spadaj, wieśniaku! ("Get lost, hillbilly!")
After "Ty" (second person singular pronoun)
Ty kłamczuchu! (You liar!)
Set expressions:
(O) Matko!, (O) Boże!, chłopie
The vocative is also often employed in affectionate and endearing contexts such asKocham Cię, Krzysiu! ("I love you, Chris!") orTęsknię za Tobą, moja Żono ("I miss you, my wife."). In addition, the vocative form sometimes takes the place of the nominative in informal conversations:Józiu przyszedł instead ofJózio przyszedł ("Joey's arrived"). When referring to someone by their first name, the nominative commonly takes the place of the vocative as well:Ania, chodź tu! instead ofAniu, chodź tu! ("Anne, come here!").
The historic Slavic vocative has been lost inRussian and is now used only in archaic expressions. Several of them, mostly ofOld Church Slavonic origin, are common in colloquial Russian: "Боже!" (Bože, vocative of "Бог"Bog, "God") and "Боже мой!" (Bože moj, "My God!"), and "Господи!" (Gospodi, vocative of "Господь"Gospodj, "Lord"), which can also be expressed as "Господи Иисусе!" (Gospodi Iisuse!,Iisuse vocative of "Иисус"Iisus, "Jesus"). The vocative is also used in prayers: "Отче наш!" (Otče naš, "Our Father!"), or the Russian version of theJesus Prayer ("Господи Иисусе Христе"). Such expressions are used to express strong emotions (much like English "O my God!"), and are often combined ("Господи, Боже мой"). More examples of the historic vocative can be found in other Biblical quotes that are sometimes used as proverbs: "Врачу, исцелися сам" (Vraču, iscelisia sam, "Physician, heal thyself", nom. "врач",vrač). Vocative forms are also used in modernChurch Slavonic. The patriarch and bishops of theRussian Orthodox Church are addressed as "владыко" (vladyko, hegemon, nom. "владыка",vladyka). In the latter case, the vocative is often also incorrectly used for the nominative to refer to bishops and patriarchs. These Old Church Slavonic words that are present in the current Russian language are known as "fossil words".[16]
In modern colloquial Russian,given names and a small family of terms often take a special "shortened" form that some linguists consider to be a re-emerging vocative case.[17] It is used only for given names and nouns that end in-a and-я, which are sometimes dropped in the vocative form: "Лен, где ты?" ("Lena, where are you?"). It is basically equivalent to "Лена, где ты?" but suggests a positive personal and emotional bond between the speaker and the person being addressed. Names that end in-я then acquire asoft sign: "Оль!" = "Оля!" ("Olga!"). In addition to given names, the form is often used with words like "мама" (mom) and "папа" (dad), which would be respectively shortened to "мам" and "пап". The plural form is used with words such as "ребят", "девчат" (nom: "ребята", "девчата" guys, gals).[18]
Such usage differs from the historic vocative, which would be "Лено" and is not related.
InSerbo-Croatian languages, distinct vocatives exist only for singular masculine and feminine nouns. Nouns of the neuter gender and all nouns in plural have a vocative equal to thenominative. All vocative suffixes known fromOld Church Slavonic also exist in Serbo-Croatian.[19]
The vocative in Serbo-Croatian is formed according to one of three types ofdeclension, which are classes of nouns with the same declension suffixes.[20]
The first declension comprises masculine nouns that end with a consonant. These have a vocative suffix of either-e (doktor : doktore'doctor') or-u (gospodar : gospodaru'master').
Nouns terminating in-or have the-e vocative suffix:doktor : doktore'doctor',major : majore'major',majstor : majstore'artisan', as well as nouns possessing an unsteadya:vetar : vetre'wind',svekar : svekre'father-in-law', and the nouncar : care'emperor'. All other nouns in this class form the vocative with-u:gospodar : gospodaru'master',pastir : pastiru'shepherd',inženjer : inženjeru'engineer',pisar : pisaru'scribe',sekretar : sekretaru'secretary'.
In particular, masculine nouns ending with apalatal or prepalatal consonantj, lj, nj, č, dž, ć, đ orš form vocatives with the-u suffix:heroj : heroju'hero',prijatelj : prijatelju'friend',konj : konju'horse',vozač : vozaču'driver',mladić : mladiću'youngster',kočijaš : kočijašu'coachman',muž : mužu'husband'.
Nouns ending with thevelars-k, -g and-h arepalatalized to-č, -ž, -š in the vocative:vojnik : vojniče'soldier',drug : druže'comrade',duh : duše'ghost'. A final-c becomes-č in the vocative:stric : striče'uncle',lovac : lovče'hunter'. Likewise, a final-z becomes-ž in only two cases:knez : kneže'prince' andvitez : viteže'knight'.
The loss of the unsteadya can trigger asound change by hardening consonants, as invrabac : vrapče'sparrow' (not*vrabče),lisac : lišče'male fox' (not*lisče) andženomrzac : ženomršče'misogynist' (not*ženomrzče). There may be a loss of-t before-c like inotac : oče'father' (instead of*otče),svetac : sveče'saint' (instead of*svetče). When these phonetic alterations would substantially change the base noun, the vocative remains equal to the nominative, for exampletetak'uncle',mačak'male cat',bratac'cousin'. This also holds true for foreign names ending with-k, -g and-h likeDžek'Jack',Dag'Doug',King, Hajnrih.
Male names ending with-o and-e have a vocative equal to the nominative, for example:Marko, Mihailo, Danilo, Đorđe, Pavle, Radoje.
The second declension affects nouns with the ending-a. These are mainly of feminine but sometimes also of masculine gender. These nouns have a vocative suffix-o:riba : ribo'fish',sluga : slugo'servant',kolega : kolego'colleague',poslovođa : poslovođo'manager'.
Exemptions to this rule are male and female given names, which have a vocative equal to the nominative, e. g.Vera, Zorka, Olga, Marija, Gordana, Nataša, Nikola, Kosta, Ilija etc. However, this is different for twosyllabic names with an ascending accent such as female namesNâda, Zôra, Mîca, Nêna and male namesPêra, Bôža, Pâja, etc., which form vocatives with-o:Nâdo, Zôro, Mîco, Pêro, Bôžo, Pâjo, etc.
Denominations of relatives likemama'mom',tata'dad',baba'grandmother',deda'grandfather',tetka'aunt' (parent's sister),ujna'aunt' (mother's brother's wife),strina'aunt' (father's brother's wife) have vocatives equal to the nominative. This also holds true for country names ending in-ska, -čka, -ška.
Nouns ending with thediminutive suffix-ica that consist of three or more syllables have a vocative with-e:učiteljica: učiteljice "female teacher",drugarica: drugarice "girlfriend",tatica: tatice "daddy",mamica: mamice "mommy". This also applies to female namesDanica: Danice,Milica: Milice,Zorica: Zorice, and the male namesPerica: Perice,Tomica: Tomice. Nouns of this class that can be applied to both males and females usually have a vocative ending of-ico (pijanica: pijanico "drunkard",izdajica: izdajico "traitor",kukavica: kukavico "coward"), but vocatives with-ice are also seen.
The use of vocative endings for names varies among Serbo-Croatian dialects. People inCroatia often use only nominative forms as vocatives, while others are more likely to use grammatical vocatives.[21]
The third declension affects feminine nouns ending with a consonant. The vocative is formed by appending the suffix-i to the nominative (reč : reči'word',noć : noći'night').
Until the end of the 1980s, the existence of a distinct vocative case inSlovak was recognised and taught at schools. Today, the case is no longer considered to exist except for a few archaic examples of the original vocative remaining in religious, literary or ironic contexts:
Nominative
Vocative
Translation
Nominative
Vocative
Translation
Nominative
Vocative
Translation
Bohm.
Bože
God
Ježišm.
Ježišu
Jesus
mamaf.
mamo
mother
Kristusm.
Kriste
Christ
priateľm.
priateľu
friend
ženaf.
ženo
woman
pánm.
pane
lord
bratm.
bratu,bratku
brother
otecm.
otče
father
synm.
synu,synku
son
človekm.
človeče
man, human
chlapm.
chlape
man
chlapecm.
chlapče
boy
In everyday use, the Czech vocative is sometimes retrofitted to certain words:
Nominative
Vocative
Translation
majsterm.
majstre
maestro
šéfm.
šéfe
boss
švagorm.
švagre
brother-in-law
Another stamp of vernacular vocative is emerging, presumably under the influence ofHungarian for certain family members or proper names:
"Et tu, Brute?" from Shakespeare'sJulius Caesar, probably the most famous use of the vocative in literature.
InLatin, the form of the vocative case of a noun is often the same as the nominative. Exceptions include singular non-neuter second-declension nouns that end in-us in the nominative case. An example would be the famous line from Shakespeare, "Et tu, Brute?" (commonly translated as "And you, Brutus?"):Brute is the vocative case andBrutus would be the nominative.
Nouns that end in-ius end with-ī instead of the expected-ie. Thus,Julius becomesJulī andfilius becomesfilī. The shortening does not shift the accent so the vocative ofVergilius isVergilī, with accent on the second syllable even though it is short. Nouns that end in-aius and-eius have vocatives that end in-aī or-eī even though the-i- in the nominative is consonantal.
First-declension and second-declension adjectives also have distinct vocative forms in the masculine singular if the nominative ends in-us, with the ending-e. Adjectives that end in-ius have vocatives in-ie so the vocative ofeximius iseximie.
Nouns and adjectives that end in-eus do not follow the rules above.Meus forms the vocative irregularly asmī ormeus, while ChristianDeus does not have a distinct vocative and retains the formDeus. "My God!" in Latin is thusmī Deus!, butJerome'sVulgate consistently usedDeus meus as a vocative.Classical Latin did not use a vocative ofdeus either (in reference to pagan gods, the Romans used thesuppletive formdive).
Portuguese drops the article to form the vocative. The vocative is always between commas and, like in many other languages, a particleÓ is commonly used:
Ó Jesus, ajude-nos!
O Jesus, help us!
Menino, vem cá!
Boy, come here!
Não faças isso, amigo.
Don't do that, [my] friend.
InExtremaduran andFala, some post-tonical vowels open in vocative forms of nouns, a new development that is unrelated to the Latin vocative case.
Like English,French sometimes uses (or historically used) a particleÔ to mark vocative phrases rather than by change to the form of the noun. A famous example is the title and first line of the Canadian national anthem,O Canada (French title:Ô Canada), a vocative phrase addressingCanada.
The vocative case inRomanian is partly inherited, occasionally causing other morphophonemic changes (see also the article onRomanian nouns):
singular masculine/neuter:-e as in
om:omule! (man, human being),
băiat:băiete! orbăiatule! (boy),
văr:vere! (cousin),
Ion:Ioane! (John);
singular feminine:-o as in
soră:soro! (sister),
nebună:nebuno! (mad woman), also in masculine (nebunul)
deșteaptă:deșteapto! (smart one (f), often used sarcastically),
Ileana:Ileano! (Helen);
Since there is no-o vocative in Latin, it must have been borrowed from Slavic: compare the corresponding Bulgarian formsсестро (sestro),откачалко (otkachalko),Елено (Eleno).
plural, all genders:-lor as in
frați:fraților! (brothers),
boi:boilor! (oxen, used toward people as an invective),
doamne și domni:doamnelor și domnilor! (ladies and gentlemen).
In formal speech, the vocative often simply copies the nominative/accusative form even when it does have its own form. That is because the vocative is often perceived as very direct and so can seem rude.
Venetian has lost all case endings, like most other Romance languages. However, with feminine proper names the role of the vocative is played by the absence of the determiner: the personal articleła / l' usually precedes feminine names in other situations, even in predicates. Masculine names and other nouns lack articles and so rely onprosody to mark forms of address:
Case
Fem. proper name
Masc. proper name and other nouns
Nom./Acc.
ła Marìa ła vien qua / vardała Marìa! 'Mary comes here / look at Mary!'
Marco el vien qua / varda Marco! 'Mark comes here / look at Mark!'
Vocative
Marìa vien qua! / varda, Marìa! 'Mary, come here! / look, Mary!'
Marco vien qua! / varda, Marco! 'Mark, come here! / look, Mark!'
Predicative constructions:
Case
Fem. proper name
Masc. proper name and other nouns
Pred.
so' miła Marìa 'I am Mary.'
so' mi Marco / so' tornà maestra 'I am Mark. / I am a teacher again.'
Vocative
so' mi Marìa! 'It's me, Mary!'
so' mi, Marco! / so' tornà, maestra! 'It's me, Mark! / I am back, teacher!'
Properly speaking,Arabic has only three cases:nominative,accusative andgenitive. However, a meaning similar to that conveyed by the vocative case in other languages is indicated by the use of the particleyā (Arabic:يا) placed before a noun inflected in thenominative case (oraccusative if the noun is in construct form). In English translations, it is often translated literally asO instead of being omitted.[23][24] A longer form used inClassical Arabic isأيّهاayyuhā (masculine),أيّتهاayyatuhā (feminine), sometimes combined withyā. The particleyā was also used in the oldCastilian language because of Arabic influence viaMozarabic immigrations.[25]
Mandarin uses no special inflected forms for address. However, special forms andmorphemes (that are not inflections) exist for addressing.
Mandarin has several particles that can be attached to the word of address to mark certain special vocative forces, where appropriate. A common one is啊a, attached to the end of the address word. For example,日记rìjì "diary" becomes日记啊rìjì'a.
Certain specialized vocative morphemes also exist, albeit with limited applicabilities. For instance, theBeijing dialect ofMandarin Chinese, to express strong feelings (especially negative ones) to someone, a neutral tone suffix-ei may be attached to certain address words. It is most commonly applied to the word孙子 (sūnzi, "grandson"), to formsūnzei, meaning approximately "Hey you nasty one!". Another example is小子 (xiǎozi, lit. "kid; young one"), resulting inxiǎozei "Hey kiddo!".
InGeorgian, the vocative case is used to address the second-person singular and plural. For word roots that end with a consonant, the vocative case suffix is -o, and for the words that end with a vowel, it is -v like inOld Georgian, but for some words, it is considered archaic. For example,kats- is the root for the word "man". If one addresses someone with the word, it becomeskatso.
Adjectives are also declined in the vocative case. Just like nouns, consonant final stem adjectives take the suffix -o in the vocative case, and the vowel final stems are not changed:
lamazi kali "beautiful woman" (nominative case)
lamazo kalo! "beautiful woman!" (vocative case)
In the second phrase, both the adjective and the noun are declined. The personal pronouns are also used in the vocative case.Shen "you" (singular) andtkven "you" (plural) in the vocative case becomeshe! andtkve, without the -n. Therefore, one could, for instance, say, with the declension of all of the elements:
The vocative case inKorean is commonly used with first names in casual situations by using the vocativecase marker(호격 조사) 아 (a) if the name ends in a consonant and야 (ya) if the name ends with a vowel:[27]
1a.
미진이
Mijini
집에
jibe
가?
ga?
미진이 집에 가?
Mijini jibe ga?
Is Mijin going home?
1b.
미진아,
Mijina,
집에
jibe
가?
ga?
미진아, 집에 가?
Mijina, jibe ga?
Mijin, are you going home?
2a.
동배
Dongbae
뭐
mwo
해?
hae?
동배 뭐 해?
Dongbae mwo hae?
What is Dongbae doing?
2b.
동배야,
Dongbaeya,
뭐
mwo
해?
hae?
동배야, 뭐 해?
Dongbaeya, mwo hae?
Dongbae, what are you doing?
In formal Korean, the marker여 (yeo) or이여 (iyeo) is used, the latter if the root ends with a consonant. Thus, a quotation ofWilliam S. Clark would be translated as follows:
소년이여,
sonyeoniyeo,
야망을
yamangeul
가져라.
gajyeora.
소년이여, 야망을 가져라.
sonyeoniyeo, yamangeul gajyeora.
Boys, be ambitious.
Thehonorific infix시 (si) is inserted in between the이 (i) and여 (yeo).
신이시여,
sinisiyeo,
부디
budi
저들을
jeodeureul
용서하소서.
yongseohasoseo.
신이시여, 부디 저들을 용서하소서.
sinisiyeo, budi jeodeureul yongseohasoseo.
Oh god, please forgive them.
InMiddle Korean, there were three honorific classes of the vocative case:[28]
Hungarian has a number of vocative-like constructions, even though it lacks an explicit vocativeinflection.
Noun phrases in a vocative context always take the zero article.[29] While noun phrases can takezero articles for other reasons, the lack of an article otherwise expected marks a vocative construction. This is especially prominent in dialects of Hungarian where personal proper names and other personal animate nouns tend to take the appropriate definite article, similarly to certain dialects ofGerman detailed above. For example:
Nominative
Vocative
(Az) Olivér még beszélget. Oliver is still chatting.
Olivér, gyere ide! Oliver, come over here.
Kiönthette voln’a honfi megtelt szívét. Might have pour'd the full tide of a patriot's heart.
Honfi, mit ér epedő kebel e romok ormán? Patriot, why do you yearn on these ruins?[30]
A szerelem csodaszép. Love is wonderful.
Látod, szerelem, mit tettél! O Love, look what you have done!
(Az) Isten szerelmére! For the love of God!
Isten, áldd meg a magyart! God, bless the Hungarians!
With certain words such asbarát ("friend"),hölgy ("lady"),úr ("gentleman, lord"), vocation is, in addition to the zero article, always[31] marked by the first person possessive:[32]
Nominative
Vocative
A nemesek báljára megérkezteka hölgyek ésaz urak. The ladies and the gentlemen have arrived to the nobility's ball.
Hölgyeim és uraim, kezdődjék a tánc! (My) Ladies and (my) gentlemen, let the dancing begin!
Haaz Úr nem építi a házat, hiába fáradoznak az építők. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Magasztallak Uram, felemeltél engem! I will exalt you, O (my) Lord, for you lifted me out of the depth!
A barát mindig segít. A friend always helps out. A barátom fiatal. My friend is young.
Tudnál segíteni, barátom? Could you help out, (my) friend?
Words liketestvér ("sibling, brother") and other words of relation do not require the first person possessive, but it is readily used in common speech, especially in familiar contexts:
Nominative
Vocative
A testvérek elsétáltak a boltba. The siblings walked to the shop.
Apám, hogy vagy? /Apa, hogy vagy? Dad, how are you?
The second-person pronoun[31] can be used to emphasize a vocation when appropriate:Hát miért nem adtad oda neki,te bolond? ("Why did you not give it to him, you fool?"),Te Karcsi, nem láttad a szemüvegem? ("Charlie, have you seen my glasses?"),Lógtok ezért még,ti gazemberek. ("You shall yet hang for this, crooks!"), etc.
Eleanor Dickey:Greek forms of address. From Herodotus to Lucian. Clarendon, Oxford 1996, ISBN 0-19-815054-7.
Eleanor Dickey:Latin forms of address. From Plautus to Apuleius. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002, ISBN 0-19-924287-9.
Espinal, Teresa M. 2013.On the structure of vocatives. In Barbara Sonnenhauser & Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna (eds.). Vocative! Addressing between system and performance. Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs 261, 109-132 Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110304176.109
Virginia Hill:Vocatives. How Syntax meets with Pragmatics. Brill, Leiden 2014, ISBN 978-90-04-26079-5.
Leech, Geoffrey N. 1999. “The distribution and function of vocatives in American and British English conversation”. In: Out of corpora. Ed. by Hilde Hasselgård and Signe Oksefjell. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 107–118.
Stavrou, Melita. 2013.“About the Vocative”. In: The Nominal Structure in Slavic and Beyond. Ed. by Lilia Schürks, Anastasia Giannakidou, and Urtzi Etxeberria. Studies in Generative Grammar 116. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 299–342. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614512790.299.
^Johannesen, Janne Bondi; Garbacz, Piotr (2014)."Proprial articles"(PDF).Nordic Atlas of Language Structures.1. University of Oslo:10–17.doi:10.5617/nals.5362.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-11-29.
^Holton, David, Irene Philippaki-Warburton, and Peter A. Mackridge,Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Language (Routledge, London and New York:1997), pp. 49–50ISBN0415100011
^Shapiro, Michael C. (1989).A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 263.ISBN81-208-0475-9.
^Kachru, Yamuna (2006).Hindi. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 65.ISBN90-272-3812-X.
^Alberti, Gábor; Balogh, Kata (2004)."Az eltűnt névelő nyomában".A mai magyar nyelv leírásának újabb módszerei.6 (6): 9-31.
^Makkai, Ádám, ed. (2000).In quest of the 'Miracle stag' : the poetry of Hungary / [Vol. 1], An anthology of Hungarian poetry in English translation from the 13th century to the present in commemoration of the 1100th anniversary of the Foundation of Hungary and the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 / with the co-operation of George Buday and Louis I. Szathmáry II and the special assistance of Agnes Arany-Makkai, Earl M. Herrick, and Valerie Becker Makkai (Second rev. ed.). Chicago: Atlantis-Centaur.ISBN963-86024-2-2.
^Albertné Herbszt, Mária (2007). "Pragmatika". In A. László, Anna (ed.).A magyar nyelv könyve (9 kiad ed.). Budapest: Trezor Kiadó. p. 708.ISBN978-963-8144-19-5.
