View source for Sociative case

{{Short description|Grammatical case}}
{{see also|Comitative case}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2025}}
In [[grammar]], the '''sociative case''' is a [[grammatical case]] in [[Uralic languages]] such as [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]];<ref name=Tewari>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S0dZEQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Sociative+case%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA554|page=554|title=The Universe of Linguistics : An Assortment of Uncovered Grammar|first=Rishikesh |last=Tewari|year=2025|publisher=Crown |isbn=978-93-6426-019-0 |access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref> as well as [[Tamil language|Tamil]], and [[Malayalam]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} languages that can express the person in whose company (cf. [[Latin]] {{lang|la|socius}}) an action is carried out, or to any belongings of people which take part in an action (together with their owners). In other words, it is a case "that typically marks [[accompaniment]] or association."<ref name=Tewari />

In 19th Century textbooks, sociative case is mentioned as having existed in English grammar,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2oCAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22Sociative+case%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA96|quote=He studied ''with me'' ... sociative case; He was sent ''along with her'' ... (ditto) (''italics in original'')|title=An Examination of the Functional Elements of an English Sentence, Together with a New System of Analytic Marks|first=William Garmonsway|last=Wrightson|year=1882|publisher=Macmillan|access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref> but in [[Modern English]] language, the speaker must use context to convey the tone of the message of ''pejorative association'', as in the lyrics of ''[[Invisible Sun]]'' by [[The Police]]: "I face the day with my head caved in: Looking like something that the cat brought in."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5XFaQMSQX8C&dq=invisible+sun+lyrics&pg=PA59|pages=58–59|title=Lyrics|first=Gordon Matthew Thomas |last=Sumner (known as Sting)|isbn=9780307421999|publisher=Random House|year= 2009|access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref>

==Hungarian==
In Hungarian, this case is usually denoted by the suffixes ''-stul'' and ''-stül'', depending on [[vowel harmony]]; it can also have a ''-mal'' ending.<ref name=Tewari /> This case is archaic and nowadays the [[instrumental-comitative case]] is usually used instead. Nevertheless, it can be used also in modern Hungarian to express a slight [[pejorative]] tone against a person. Here are a few examples:

* ''Karácsonykor egy fillér nélkül, kölyköstül állított be az anyósához'' "Without a dime, she wound up in her mother-in-law's house at Christmas with her kids".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=eJournal of Hungarian American Educators Association|volume=6|year=2013|last=Fekete|first=István|url=http://real.mtak.hu/8386/1/Fekete-final-2.pdf |title=Hungarian ''Gyerekestül'' versus ''Gyerekkel'' ('with [the<nowiki>]</nowiki> kid')|access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref>

The use of the sociative case ''kölyköstül'' ("with her kids") signifies the speaker's [[contempt]]. The case appears also in some commonly used expressions, which survived the general obsolescence of the sociative case:

* ''Ruhástul ugrott a medencébe'' "He jumped into the pool with his clothes on"
* ''A fenevad szőröstül-bőröstül felfalta a védtelen kis nyuszit'' "The monster devoured the helpless little bunny neck and crop".

==Tamil==
In some spoken dialects of Tamil, the sociative case takes the endings {{lang|ta|-ஓடு}} ({{Transliteration|ta|-ōṭu}}) or {{lang|ta|-உடன்}} ({{Transliteration|ta|-uṭan}}).<ref name=Schiffman>{{cite web|url=https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/public/h_sch_9a.pdf |title=The Tamil Case System, in F. Gros Felicitation Volume|first=Harold F. |last=Schiffman|pages= 301–313|date=29 September 2003|access-date=4 June 2025}}</ref>

It is related to the instrumental case but not identical to it. In contrast to the sociative case, the instrumental case usually denotes the means of action and takes the ending {{lang|ta|-ஆல்}} ({{Transliteration|ta|-āl}}).

Harold F. Schiffman noted the similarities between the sociative cases of Tamil and Hungarian.<ref name=Schiffman />

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
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{{Grammatical cases}}

[[Category:Grammatical cases]]
[[Category:Hungarian grammar]]


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