The exessive case is a grammatical case that denotes a transition away from a state. It is a rare case found in certain dialects of Baltic-Finnic languages. It completes the series of "to/in/from a state" series consisting of the translative case, the essive case and the exessive case.

Finnish

The exessive is found only in Savo and southeastern dialects; speakers from other regions do not recognise it. Its ending is -nta/ntä. For example, tärähtäneentä terveeksi = "from loony to healthy", or a state change from mental illness to mental health. In its locative sense it is somewhat common and generally understood in some nonstandard forms, for example takaanta/takanta (from behind, standard Finnish takaa), siintä (from that/it, standard Finnish siitä).

Estonian

In the general pattern of the loss of a final vowel when compared to Finnish, the Estonian exessive ending is -nt. For example, tagant = from behind (something).

Literature

• Särkkä, Tauno: Itämerensuomalaisten kielten eksessiivi (The exessive case of the Baltic-Finnic languages), Helsinki 1969.

External links

• A Finnish text on the dialectal exessive