illativeinto

Illativeinto is a term used in linguistics to describe a proposed cross-linguistic semantic-pragmatic function that equates the illative directional sense “into” with the English preposition into. The term is not widely standardized but has appeared in typological discussions as a label for comparing how languages encode inbound motion toward the interior of a bounded space.

Relation to illative case: The illative is a grammatical case used in several languages (notably the Finnic languages) to mark motion toward a destination. Illativeinto, by contrast, concentrates on the functional, rather than grammatical, equivalence to the English into, helping researchers discuss cross-linguistic similarities regardless of whether a language uses suffixes, particles, or postpositions.

Morphosyntactic realization: When a language encodes illative meaning via suffixes, postpositions, or prepositions, illativeinto seeks to identify the shared semantic role of “direction into.” The label covers both explicit case markings and adpositional strategies, focusing on the directional meaning rather than the exact morphosyntactic form.

Examples: In a constructed language Luma, talo-into would mean “into the house.” In languages with explicit illative suffixes or postpositions, the same semantic effect would be realized differently, but the illativeinto analysis would describe the underlying function as the same.

Note: English lacks a dedicated illative case; illativeinto is a theoretical construct used in comparative linguistics.