Livonian is a Finnic language, and, as such, is closely related to both Estonian and Finnish.
Tones
Livonian is a pitch accent language. It has a broken tone that can appear in words. The broken tone is marked with a '.[1]
| lēḑ ‘sphere’ | lē’ḑ ‘leaf’ |
| nīņ ‘bark strip’ | nī’ņ ‘wide belt’ |
| mō ‘earth’ | mō’ ‘down; earthwards’ |
| ūdõ ‘to fry’ | ū’dõ ‘to strain’ |
| pūstõ ‘tree (elat. sg.)’ | pū’stõ ‘to clean’ |
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
| Singular | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person ("I") | Second Person ("You") | Third Person ("He" or "She") | |
| Nominative | minā/ma | sinā/sa | tämā/ta |
| Genitive | min | sin | täm |
| Dative | minnõn | sinnõn | tämmõn |
| Translative | minkõks | sinkõks | tämkõks |
| Partitive | mīnda | sīnda | tǟnda |
| Inessive | mins/minšõ | sins/sinšõ | täms/tamšõ |
| Elative | minst/minstõ | sinst/sinstõ | tämst/tämstõ |
| Illative | minnõ | sinnõ | tämmõ |
| Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person ("We") | Second Person ("You") | Third Person ("They") | |
| Nominative | mēg | tēg | ne |
| Genitive | mäd | täd | nänt |
| Dative | mäddõn | täddõn | näntõn |
| Translative | mätkõks | tätkõks | näntkõks |
| Partitive | mēḑi | tēḑi | nēḑi |
| Inessive | mēšši | tēšši | nēšši |
| Elative | mēšti | tēšti | nēšti |
| Illative | mēži | tēži | nēži |
Note: the third person pronouns do not possess a gender in the singular or the plural.
Demonstrative Pronouns
| Singular ("this, this one") | Plural ("these, these ones") | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | sīe/se | ne |
| Genitive | sīe/se | nänt |
| Dative | sīen | näntõn |
| Translative | sīeks/sīekõks | näntkõks |
| Partitive | sīeda | nēḑi |
| Inessive | sīes/sīessõ | nẽšši |
| Elative | sīest/sīestõ | nēšti |
| Illative | sīezõ | nēži |
Note: The plural demonstrative pronoun is the same as the third person plural personal pronoun.
Reflexive Pronouns
| Singular ("myself, yourself, oneself") | Plural ("ourselves, yourself/ves, themselves") | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | iž | iž |
| Genitive | eņtš | eņtš |
| Dative | eņtšõn | eņtšõn |
| Translative | eņtšõks | eņtšōdõks |
| Partitive | eņtšta | eņtšidi |
| Inessive | eņtšõs | eņtšis |
| Elative | eņtšõst | eņtšist |
| Illative | eņtšõ(z) | eņtšiz |
Note: The usage of the reflexive pronoun is broad. Of course, it is used as a reflexive pronoun as in "minnõn eņtšõn um vajag...," meaning "I need..." [lit: to myself is necessary...]. However, the pronoun can also express possession; it frequently replaces the genitive forms of the personal pronouns. For example: "ma sīeda kūliz eņtš izast", or "I heard it from my father." Also, reflexive pronouns can be used in adverbial expressions: "täm eņtš ie", "this same night".
Cases
The following are the cases in Livonian:[1]
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -∅ | -t -d -õd |
| Genitive | -∅ | -t -d -õd |
| Partitive | -tā -dā -ța -ta -da -tõ -dõ -õ -∅ | -ți -ḑi -ti -di -i |
| Dative | -n -õn | -ddõn -dõn -tõn -õdõn |
| Instrumental | -kõks -ks -õks | -dkõks -tkõks -dõks -tõks |
| Translative | -ks | |
| Illative | -zõ -(õ)z | -ži -īž -iž -ž -īz -iz |
| Inessive | -š(õ) -s(õ) -õs(õ) | -ši -īs -is |
| Elative | -št(õ) -st(õ) -õst(õ) | -šti -īst -ist |
| Instructive | -īņ -iņ | |
| Allative | -l(õ) -õl | -il -iļ[2] |
| Adessive | -l(õ) -õl | -il -iļ[2] |
| Ablative | -ld(õ(st)) -õld | -iļd[2] |
| Abessive | -tõ | |
| Lative | -j -jõ | |
| Essive | -nõ -n | |
| Exessive | -ndõ(st) |
Examples
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | līvli | - | līvlizt | -t |
| Genitive | līvliz | - | līvlizt | -t |
| Partitive | līvliztõ | -tõ | līvliži | -i |
| Dative | līvlizõn | -õn | līvliztõn | -tõn |
| Instrumental | līvlizõks | -õks | līvliztõks | -tõks |
| Illative | līvlizõ | -õ | līvližiz | -iz |
| Inessive | līvlizõs | -õs | līvližis | -is |
| Elative | līvlizõst | -õst | līvližist | -ist |
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ve’ž | - | viedūd | -d |
| Genitive | vie’d | - | viedūd | -d |
| Partitive | vietā | -tā | vežži | -i |
| Dative | vie’ddõn | -õn | viedūdõn | -dõn |
| Instrumental | vie’dkõks | -kõks | viedūdõks | -dõks |
| Illative | vie’ddõ | -õ | vežīz | -īz |
| Inessive | vie’dsõ | -sõ | vežīs | -īs |
| Elative | vie’dstõ | -stõ | vežīst | -īst |
Moods
The following are the moods in Livonian:[1]
| Mood and Tense | Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative (present tense) | 1 | -b -õb — | -mõ -m -õm |
| 2 | -d -õd | -tõ -t -õt | |
| 3 | -b -õb — | -bõd -õbõd -āt(õ) | |
| Indicative (past tense) | 1 | -, (comma indicates palatalization of final consonant) -i -īz -iz -ž -kš | -,mõ -imõ -īzmõ -izmõ -žmõ -kšmõ |
| 2 | -,d -id -īzt -izt -žt -št | -,t(õ) -it(õ) -īzt(õ) -izt(õ) -žt(õ) -kšt(õ) | |
| 3 | -, -id -īz -iz -ž -kš | -,t(õ) -it(õ) -īzt(õ) -izt(õ) -žt(õ) -kšt(õ) | |
| Conditional | 1 | -ks -õks | -kstõ -õkstõ |
| 2 | -kst -õkst | -kstõ -õkstõ | |
| -ks -õks | -kstõ -õkstõ | ||
| Imperative | 1 | -gõm -õgõm -kkõm -kõm | |
| 2 | – | -gīd -gid -õgid -kkõd -kõd | |
| Quotative | 1–3 | -i -ji -iji | -id -jid -ijid |
| Jussive | 1–3 | -gõ -g |-õg -kkõ -kõ | -gõd -õgõd -kkõd -kõd |
References
Bibliography
- Sivers, Fanny de (2000). Parlons live : une langue de la Baltique (in French). Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-1337-8.