Nota accusativi
Nota accusativi is a grammatical term for a particle (an uninflected word) that marks a noun as being in the accusative case. An example is the use of the word a in Spanish before an animate direct object: Jorge lleva a su gato. 'Jorge carries his cat.'.
Esperanto
[edit]Officially, in Esperanto, the suffix letter -n is used to mark an accusative. But a few modern speakers use the unofficial preposition na instead of the final -n.[citation needed]
Mi
I
havas
have
domon.
house.ACC
I have a house.
Mi
I
havas
have
na
ACC
domo.
house.
I have a house.
Hebrew
[edit]In Hebrew the preposition אֶת et is used for definite nouns in the accusative. Those nouns might be used with the definite article (ה ha 'the'). Otherwise, the object is modified by a possessive pronominal suffix, by virtue of being a nomen regens within a genitive phrasing, or as a proper name. To continue with the Hebrew example:
אֲנִי
Ani
I
רוֹאֶה
ro'eh
see
אֵת
et
DO
הַכֶּלֶב.
ha-kelev.
the.dog.
I see the dog.
אֲנִי
Ani
I
רוֹאֶה
ro'eh
see
אֵת
et
DO
כַּלְבִּי.
kalbi.
my.dog.
I see my dog.
אֲנִי
Ani
I
רוֹאֶה
ro'eh
see
אֵת
et
DO
כֶּלֶב
kelev
dog
דָּנִיֵּאל.
Dani'el.
Daniel.
I see Daniel's dog.
אֲנִי
Ani
I
רוֹאֶה
ro'eh
see
אֵת
et
DO
דָּנִיֵּאל.
Dani'el.
Daniel.
I see Daniel.
On the other hand, "I see a dog" is simply
This example is obviously a specialized use of the nota accusativi, since Hebrew does not use the nota accusativi unless the noun is in the definitive.
Japanese
[edit]In Japanese, the particle を (pronounced お o) is the direct object marker and marks the recipient of an action.
Korean
[edit]In Korean, the postposition 을 eul or 를 reul is the direct object marker and marks the recipient of an action. For example:
나는
Naneun
라면을
ramyeoneul
먹었다.
meogeotda.
I ate ramen.
을 is used when the previous syllable (면 myeon in this case) is closed, i.e. when it ends with a consonant (ㄴ n in 면 myeon in this case).
나는
Naneun
나비를
nabireul
보았다.
boatda.
I saw a butterfly.
를 is used when the previous syllable (비 bi in this case) is open, i.e. when it ends with a vowel (l i in 비 bi in this case).
Toki Pona
[edit]In Toki Pona, the word e is used to mark a direct object.
jan
person
li
PRED
moku
consume
e
ACC
telo.
liquid
A person drinks water.
Other languages
[edit]Nota accusativi also exists in Armenian, Greek and other languages.
In other languages, especially those with grammatical case, there is usually a separate form (for each declension if declensions exist) of the accusative case. The nota accusativi should not be confused with such case forms, as the term nota accusativi is a separate particle of the accusative case.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Bubeník, Vít (2006). From Case to Adposition: The Development of Configurational Syntax in Indo-European Languages. John Benjamins. p. 54. ISBN 90-272-4795-1.