Language/Armenian/Grammar/The-Ablative-Case
Formation of the Ablative Case in Armenian
The ablative case is used to compose sentences that answer questions “from whom?”, “from what?” “of what?” and “from where?” Nouns have a specific form in ablative case. The specific form a noun has in ablative depends on the type of declension it has in genitive. The chart below summarizes the rule for forming the ablative case.
Examples of sentences using the ablative:
- Դու որտեղի՞ց ես գալիս։ Where are you coming from?
- Ես գալիս եմ Հրազդանից։ I am coming from Hrazdan (city).
- Սա ինչի՞ց ես պատրաստում։ What do you make this of?
- Դա պատրաստում եմ փայտից։ I make it of wood.
When a word ending with a vowel gets an ending which starts with a vowel, a consonant letter is often added. Notice that words which use the "վա" declension, get an additional ն which stands right before the ից ending, converting it to նից. So “from that day” would be “այդ օրվանից” not “այդ օրվաից.”
When adding an ending which starts with a vowel, the last vowel of a word is sometimes dropped. Thus, we get շնից instead of շանից.
Other Uses of the Ablative
The ablative case has many other uses. The following chart presents a few examples:
The ablative case is also used to express “of something” like in “being scared of something.” The following verbs employ “of” in this manner:
զգուշանալ | to beware of, to take precaution against |
ամաչել | to be embarrassed of |
ձանձրանալ | to be sick of |
հոգնել | to be tired of |
գանգատվել | to complain of |
վախենալ | to be scared of |
ուշանալ | to be late of |
- Ծեր մարդիկ վախենում են մահից: Old men are scared of death.
- Դուք գանգատվում եք հեռախոսից։ You complain of the phone.
Countries, Nationalities, and Language:
Most country names in Armenian end in “-իա” or “-ստան.” The great majority of nationalities are formed by the ending “-ացի” to the country name. Most names of languages are formed by adding “-երեն” to the root stem of the country.
Sources
- https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/sites/slaviccenters.duke.edu/files/handbook_of_armenian.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_case#:~:text=The%20modern%20Armenian%20ablative%20has,derives%20from%20the%20classical%20plural.
- http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Language_Lessons_Chapter_2