grammatical case: a grammatical category which helps identify the role of a word in a sentence. Absolutive (abs.): the standard unaltered case of a noun, marked by -ø. Ergative (erg.): indicates the agent; the noun doing the action, as in ‘[performed] by’, marked by -e. Genitive (gen.): indicates origin or derivation, as in “of”, marked by -ak. Locative (loc.): indicates where something is happening, as in ‘in’, or ‘at’, marked by -a. Dative (dat.): indicates motion toward someone, as in ‘to/for [a person]’, marked by -ra. Directive (dir.): indicates motion toward something, is in ‘to/for [a thing]’, marked by -e. Terminative (term.): indicates a final destination, as in ‘to [a place]’, marked by -šè. Comitative (com.): indicates group action, as in ‘with’, marked by -da. Ablative (abl.): indicates removal or separation from; can also indicate manner or method (instrumental), marked by -ta. Equative (equ.): indicates similarity, as in ‘like’, or ‘as’, marked as -gin7.
