allative

Allative is a grammatical case used in a subset of languages to mark direction toward a destination, a surface, or a recipient. It encodes the goal of motion or contact, indicating where someone is heading or who benefits from an action, such as giving or reaching a location. The allative is typically contrasted with locative cases that express position rather than movement.

In languages that have an allative, it is often realized as a suffix or a clitic attached to the target noun, though some languages use a postposition or a separate analytic word. Finnish is a well-known example in which the allative marks destination with forms such as pöydälle “onto the table,” koululle “to the school,” and äidille “to mother.” In English, there is no dedicated allative case; directional meaning is usually conveyed by prepositional phrases like to or toward.

Cross-linguistically, the allative occurs in various Uralic languages (such as Finnish and related languages) and in several unrelated language groups, sometimes overlapping with dative or recipient-marking functions. The precise semantics can vary: some languages emphasize the goal of motion, others highlight destination, and still others mark recipients of actions like giving.

Compared with other directional or locative cases, the allative is specifically oriented toward movement toward a referent, object, or person, rather than merely being near or in a location. Its presence or absence and its exact form are language-specific features of a given case system.