Nominativeimperativelike

Nominativeimperativelike is a term used in linguistic typology to describe a pattern in which a single morphosyntactic form bears features of both nominative case marking on noun phrases and an imperative mood on finite verbs. The label is descriptive and not tied to a single language; it is used to discuss cross-linguistic instances where case and mood interact in unexpected ways or where an imperative-origin form is reinterpreted as a nominal marker.

In this pattern, a form—often a suffix or clitic—appears in nominal paradigms to indicate nominative case and also surfaces in verbal contexts with imperative-like function. The same surface form may thus appear in nouns and in imperatives, with its interpretation determined by syntactic position, clause type, or prosodic factors. Such systems challenge a strict separation between nominal inflection and verbal mood.

Example material in the literature is frequently hypothetical, used to illustrate the concept rather than to document a well-established language. For instance, in a hypothetical Language X, the form -ko could mark nominative on nouns (uli-ko “the man”) and also function as a second-person imperative on verbs (lata-ko “do it”). This illustrates how one morpheme can fulfill dual roles across word classes.

Analyses of nominativeimperativelike consider whether the phenomenon reflects a single underlying morpheme with polyfunctional use, a case of clitic sharing, or a historical reanalysis between nominal and verbal domains. Critics note that genuine instances are rare and that what appears as nominative-imperative similarity may often be better analyzed as case–mood interaction or phonological overlap.

See also: nominative case, imperative mood, polysemy, clitics, morphosyntax.