nominativepartitive

Nominativepartitive is a linguistic term used to describe a dual-form noun paradigm in which a language maintains a nominative form for subjects and a partitive form for certain objects or quantificational constructions. The concept helps account for how some languages encode subjecthood and partiality within noun phrases, rather than treating all noun forms as a single, uniform case.

In Finnic languages, the nominative and partitive are distinct inflected forms rather than a single case, and the partitive often marks indefinite, partial, or mass references. The partitive is frequently used with negation, with numerals and expressions of quantity, and with imperfective or incomplete actions. This division between nominative and partitive affects noun endings and, in some languages, interacts with adjective agreement and verbal syntax.

Finnish provides a clear illustration. The nominative form serves for explicit subjects: Koira on suuri. The partitive form marks objects under certain conditions, such as ongoing actions: Minä syön koiraa (I am eating a dog). When expressing quantities, numerals are followed by partitive nouns: Kolme koiraa (three dogs). The existence of nominative and partitive forms thus influences both the structure and the meaning of a sentence, particularly in contexts involving definiteness, quantity, or aspect.

Cross-linguistically, several Finnic languages, including Estonian and Karelian, show related nominative–partitive distinctions, though the exact endings and distribution vary by language. The term nominativepartitive is primarily used to describe this shared typological feature rather than a single, universal rule.

See also: nominative case, partitive case, Finnish grammar, Finnic languages, Estonian grammar.