ablational

Ablational is an adjective used primarily in linguistics to describe phenomena related to the ablative case or to constructions that express the functions typically associated with the ablative. In languages with an explicit ablative, ablational features may include suffixes, clitics, or other forms that mark origin, source, separation, or movement away from a reference point, as well as certain instrumental or relational meanings in some grammars.

In descriptive grammars, the term "ablational" is used to refer to grammatical forms or functions aligned with the semantic domain of the ablative across languages. For example, many languages with an ablative case use it to express source or origin (from X), material from which something is derived, or means and manner in which an action is performed. The word "ablational" is less common than "ablative" when naming the case itself, and it sometimes appears in cross-linguistic typology discussions to emphasize function over formal category.

Outside linguistics, "ablational" can occasionally describe processes that cause ablation, such as material loss in geology, meteorology, or engineering. In these scientific senses the term is rare, and more typically the noun "ablation" or the verb "ablate" is used.

Ablation and ablative are related but distinct terms; ablational describes a relationship to the ablative function, whereas ablative names the case itself. See also: ablative case, ablation, morphosyntax.