elatiivis

Elatiivis, in Finnish grammar, refers to the elative case (elatiivi). It is one of Finnish’s grammatical cases and is used to express origin, source, or movement outward from something. It can indicate where something comes from, where someone or something originates, or the starting point of a movement. The elative can also mark the source material or cause in a broad sense.

The typical form is built by adding the suffix -sta or -stä to the noun stem, with vowel harmony and phonological adjustments as needed. Examples: talo (house) becomes talosta (from the house), vesi (water) becomes vedestä (from the water). The first-person pronoun also shows elative forms, such as minä → minusta (from me), and me → meistä (from us). In contrast to the illative (into the house) or the inessive (in the house), the elative denotes movement or origin outward from a location or source.

Usage notes:

- The elative answers questions like “Where does X come from?” or “From what source?”.

- It is commonly used with nouns referring to places, objects, or abstract origins.

- It contrasts with related cases such as illatiivi (into), inessiivi (in), and adessiivi (on), which express different spatial or directional relations.

- Some noun forms may show slight phonological changes when taking the elative suffix, reflecting standard Finnish vowel harmony and consonant adjustments.

See also: Finnish grammar, Finnish cases, elatiivi (elative case).