datiivinen

Datiivinen is a term used in linguistics, specifically in the study of grammar, to refer to the dative case. The dative case is a grammatical case that marks the recipient or indirect object of a verb. In languages that have a dative case, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives will decline (change their form) to indicate this function. For example, in Latin, the dative singular of "puella" (girl) is "puellae".

The dative case often indicates to whom or for whom something is done. It can be translated into English using prepositions like "to" or "for". Consider the English sentence "I gave her a book." The word "her" functions as an indirect object and, in a language with a dative case, would likely be in the dative form. Similarly, in German, "Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch" (I give the man a book), "dem Mann" is in the dative case.

Not all languages have a distinct dative case. English, for example, relies on prepositions and word order to convey the meaning that would otherwise be expressed by the dative. However, the concept of an indirect object remains crucial for understanding sentence structure. The use and form of the dative case vary significantly across different language families and individual languages.