Cases

With only three tenses, finer relations often use cases — regular, fictional, dual-shaped endings.

Overview

Case	Meaning	Suffix shapes	Usage
Nominative	subject / citation form	-∅ / -\|-	Marks the subject. Zero ending.
Accusative	direct object	-t / -ut\|-it	Marks the direct object.
Dative	to / for (recipient)	-r / -ur\|-ir	Recipient or beneficiary.
Genitive	of / belonging to	-s / -us\|-is	Relational “of”. Possession on the noun uses possessive suffixes.
Inessive	in / inside	-k / -uk\|-ik	Static location inside.
Illative	into	-p / -up\|-ip	Motion into an interior.
Elative	out of / from inside	-f / -uf\|-if	Motion out from an interior.
Adessive	at / by / near	-l / -ul\|-il	Static location at or near.
Ablative	from / away from	-m / -um\|-im	Motion or separation away from a point.
Allative	to / towards	-g / -ug\|-ig	Motion toward a point (not necessarily into it).
Instrumental	with / by means of	-v / -uv\|-iv	Instrument, companion, or means.
Abessive	without	-z / -uz\|-iz	Absence of something.

Noun order is fixed: STEM + CASE + PLURAL + POSSESSIVE. Each suffix chooses its shape from the current ending. Example: tomo → tomok (in) → tomokun (in-PL) → tomokunum (in-PL-my).

Nominative

Meaning: subject / citation form

-∅ / -|-

Marks the subject. Zero ending.

Homa kalam.

A person walks. / The person walks.

person walk-PRS-1SG

Tomo granda.

The house is big.

Accusative

Meaning: direct object

-t / -ut|-it

Marks the direct object.

Ma kitat vidam.

I see the book.

I book-ACC see-PRS-1SG

Ca berot edac.

You eat the bread.

Sa kivit prena.

He/she takes the bicycle.

kiv-ACC (front C-stem → -it)

Ma hoput vidam.

I see the tent.

hop-ACC (back C-stem → -ut)

Dative

Meaning: to / for (recipient)

-r / -ur|-ir

Recipient or beneficiary.

Ma kitat homar donam.

I give the book to the person.

Amikor verdor diram.

I tell the truth to the friend.

Genitive

Meaning: of / belonging to

-s / -us|-is

Relational “of”. Possession on the noun uses possessive suffixes.

tomos pordo

the door of the house

vilas centro

the center of the city

Inessive

Meaning: in / inside

-k / -uk|-ik

Static location inside.

Ma tomok lemam.

I live in the house.

Kita kerek resta.

The book stays in the garden.

Sa hopuk dorma.

He/she sleeps in the tent.

hop-INE (-uk)

Illative

Meaning: into

-p / -up|-ip

Motion into an interior.

Ma tomop iram.

I go into the house.

Sa skolep venad.

He/she came into the school.

Elative

Meaning: out of / from inside

-f / -uf|-if

Motion out from an interior.

Ma tomof venam.

I come out of the house.

Vato maraf flu.

Water flows out of the sea.

Adessive

Meaning: at / by / near

-l / -ul|-il

Static location at or near.

Ma pordol vartam.

I wait at the door.

Amiko tabelol sida.

The friend sits at the table.

Ablative

Meaning: from / away from

-m / -um|-im

Motion or separation away from a point.

Ma vilam venam.

I come from the city.

Sa problemom fuga.

He/she flees from the problem.

Allative

Meaning: to / towards

-g / -ug|-ig

Motion toward a point (not necessarily into it).

Ma amikog iram.

I go toward the friend.

Ca skoleg irac.

You go toward the school.

Instrumental

Meaning: with / by means of

-v / -uv|-iv

Instrument, companion, or means.

Ma krajov skribam.

I write with a pen.

Sa amikov venad.

He/she came with a friend.

Abessive

Meaning: without

-z / -uz|-iz

Absence of something.

Ma vatoz lemam.

I live without water.

Problemoz labora.

He/she works without a problem.

Word builder

STEM + CASE + PLURAL + POSSESSIVE — order never changes. Harmony: back (a/o/u)

StemCasePluralPossessive

STEM tomo→CASE k→PLURAL un→POSSESSIVE um=

tomokunum