substativet

Substativet is the definite form of the noun in several Scandinavian languages, and it is also used as the term for the noun category itself in grammar. In Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish, nouns belong to the substativ class and are marked for number and often for definiteness. The definite form, which is what the term substativet refers to in practice, typically appears as a suffix attached to the noun or as a separate determiner before it.

Morphology and syntax are central to substativet. Nouns inflect for number (singular and plural) and, in many varieties, for gender (such as common and neuter). The definite form is formed differently across languages: for example, by suffixes on the noun in singular (and sometimes plural) or by a determiner preceding the noun. The definite form behaves like a determiner-bearing noun in phrases and agrees with adjectives and other determiners in number and gender. As the core of noun phrases, substativet participates in subject and object positions and can take complements, adjectives, and possessives.

Semantic classes within substativet include concrete and abstract nouns, countable and mass nouns, and proper nouns. Substantives can function as main predicates in equative sentences and serve as the head of noun phrases. They contrast with other word classes such as verbs, adjectives in attributive use, and pronouns, though they often interact with determiners and numerals.

Historically, substantives trace their origins to Proto-Germanic and have diversified in each language. Across Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, the basic notion remains the same: substativet denotes a linguistic unit that names entities and carries inflectional information for number, and, in many forms, definiteness.