Chuvash manual
    
    UNIT THREE
    
    Objective relational morpheme (dative and accusative cases, direct and indirect object); locative relational morpheme; ablative relational morpheme.
    
Objective Relational Morpheme
    
    The function of the objective relational morpheme in Chuvash combines most features of the dative and accusative cases of other languages, or the functions of direct and indirect object, hence the name, objective relational, as indicating the objects of action, direct or indirect
    The objective relational morpheme in Chuvash is {-(n)A}, and as in the preceding lesson, we shall employ here too morphophonemic symbols to indicate the various allomorphs (which exist for the most part under the same conditions as for the genitive morpheme).

1	Zero allomorph with all stems
2	After polysyllabic consonant sterns, and some monosyllabic	.A
3	After polysyllabic vocalic stems, except in -i, -U, and -ă/-ĕ	.nA
4	After native and foreign Sterns in -i	.ye
5	After sterns in -U, employing their stem alternant in -ăv/-ĕv	.A
6	After polysyllabic vowel stems in –C1Ă	C1C1.A
7	After polysyllabic vowel stems in –C1C2Ă	C1C2.A
8	After borrowed stems in -a, -ya and some in -o	ă.na
9	After borrowed stems in other vowels (- V) and some in -o	V.na
10	After some monosyllabic consonant stems	C1C1.a

    The objective relational morpheme has the function of indicating the person or object to or for which something is done, as well as indicating the actual object of action, in the event that this is a definite and specific object. Some instances of the various allomorphs are:
    

	arman		mill				a1ăk		door
	armana		to a mill, the mill		a1ăka		to a door, the door
	tir		leather, hide			kukăl‘		pie
	tire		to leather			kukăle		to a pie, the pie
	uj		fieid				sij		layer
	uje		to the field			sije		to a layer
	parti		political party			lasha		horse
	partije		to the party			lashana 	to a horse, the horse
	ĕne		cow				shăshi		a mouse
	ĕnene		to a cow, the cow		shăshije	to a mouse
	kinona		to the movies			obshchestvăna	to society
	stsenăna	to the stage			idejăna 	to an idea

		mashinăna benzin jană		they put gas in the machine
		udarniksene premi pană	they give prizes to shock workers
		Petĕre kĕneke kirlĕ pulnă	Peter needs a book (to P. a book is needed)

     When the object of action is general and unspecified, the zero allomorph is employed.
    
    When the object is enumerated, or specific and definite, the appropriate other allomorph is used.
    
    The indefinite accusative thus coincides at this point with the so-called absolute case.
    
    According to some, the indefinite accusative enables the object to stand in a particular and dose
    relationship to its verb, thus:

epĕ kĕneke iltĕm

I bought a book, in the sense ‘I did bookbuying, I book-bought‘

    But:
    

	epĕ şakă kĕnekene iletĕp	I buy this book
	vĕreneken himi kĕnekine vulat	the student reads the chemistry book

    Notice:
    

	epĕ matematika vĕrenetĕp 	I study mathematics

    The dative function of “to“ is also performed by this morpheme.
    

	epir irpe Shupashkara şitrĕmĕr	we came to Cheboksary in the morning
	kile				home, homewards (Ger. nach Hause, Russ.  domoi)

    This morpheme is also used to indicate the specific length of time, and other expressions of
    
    quantity and duration:
    

	vută pĕr ujăxa şitet		the firewood will hold out for a month
	kanashlu vişĕ kuna pyrat	the conference will last  three days
	şĕr tenke patăm			sold for 100 rubles

    Note the following instance of definite vs. indefinite:
    

	kĕneke vulat		he reads books, he reads a book 
				(or books in general as a practice)
	ku kĕnekene vulat	he is reading the book  
				(some particular one,  perhaps previously mentioned)

     Some particular cases of formation should be mentioned. The disyllabic stems in -a/-ĕ
    
    employ a stem alternation which geminates the consonant preceding, to which a full-length a or e
    
    is then added. Thus:
    

	pulă	fish			jytă	dog
	pulla	the fish, to a fish	jytta	the dog, to a dog
	külĕ	a lake			külle	to a lake,  the lake

    Also:
    

	şyn	a man			şynna	the man, to a man
	tir	grain			tirra	the grain, to grain

    Stems which already end in two consonants (CC) plus a reduced vowel add one unit of length, thus,
    
    /purtă/ ‘axe‘ > /purta/ the axe (acc.). However, Russian loans, particularly in -a and –ja
    
    shorten this vowel to -~ă or -jă after which the regular ending –na is added.
     As in the case of the genitive morpheme, stems in -u/-ü employ their stern alternate in
    
    -ăv/-ĕv, thus:
    

	pĕlü		fact			şyru	letter
	pĕlĕve		the fact (acc.)		şyrăva	the letter (acc.)

Locative Relational Morpheme
    
    The locative relational morpheme is used in the function of indicating the place where something is or where an action takes place, thus corresponding in general to the use of “in“ in English. It is both temporal and spatial in reference. The morpheme is {-R.A}, with the following allomorphs:
    

1.After front vowel sterns and consonant stems except /l n r/
	-re
2.After back vowel sterns and consonant stems except /l n r/
	-ra
3.After front vowel consonant stems	in /l n r/
	-te
4.After back vowel consonant stems in /l n r/	
	-ta
5.After possessives (to be learned later) and the plural morpheme {-seN}
	- ce (only)
6.After the 3rd p. sg. possessive morpheme (will be discussed later)
	-nce

    
    Note that stems in –ă/-ĕ which bad some changes in the genitive and accusative cases, do not have these changes in the locative, or in any other case. Foreign words, usually in -a or -ja, do, however, employ a stern alternant shortening the vowels to -ă‚ viz., stsenăra ‘on the stage,‘ or idejăra ‘in the idea,‘ but kinora ‘in the movies.‘ Some instances of use of the various allomorphs are the following:
    
    

	shyvra		in the water		Atălta 		on the Volga
	tinĕsre 	at sea, on the sea	Xusanta		in Kazan
	vărmanta 	in the woods		pürtre		in the house
	ujra 		on the field		kilte		at home

		ernere şichĕ kun	in the week are seven days

	pulăra		in the fish		şyrura		in the letter
	külĕre		in the lake		pĕlüre		in the fact, matter

		alăkra			in the door
		alăksenche		in the doors (from * alăk-sen-te)
		slon Indire puranat	the elephant lives in India

    Somewhat similar endings are employed on the pronouns (to be treated later), as manra ‘in me‘ (note n + r!).
    

	lesh tencere		to that world
	lupashkara		in the ravine
	hirte			in the field

    
Ablative Relational Morpheme
    
    The ablative morpheme is used in the general meaning of English “from,“ or “out of, owing to, because of.“ Its endings are exactly like those of the preceding locative case, except that they affix an -n, thus, -ren, -ran, -ten, -tan, -chen. There are quite a few uses of the ablative, and not every type can be covered here.
    
    A. The English general usage of “from” to indicate distance in space and time;
    

	turan 		from the mountain 		alăkran 	from the door

	jultashran şyru iltĕm				I got a letter from (my) friend
	achasem ujran checheksem tatsa kilchĕş		the boys brought flowers from the field

    B. Material from which things are made or the place from which things are taken.
    

	jyvăşran tună pürt		a hut made from wood
	Atăltan tytnă pulă		a fish taken from the Volga

    C. In use with expressions of time, the ablative often has the effect of English ‘in“ with a future meaning, as “in a month, in a few days we will do it.“
    

	ülemren			in the future
	ujăχran			in a month
	vişĕ kuntan		in three days
	pĕr seχetren		after an hour

    D. Some functions of the Instrumental (Unit Four) can be found with the ablative, and may be translated “by, through, via, by means of, owing to.“
    

	sassăran			by (one‘s) voice
	kürshĕren			by a neighbor, in company, with a neighbor
	alăkran kĕr-			to enter by the door
	chürecheren păχ-		to look from the window

    E. A very important use of the ablative is a making comparisons, to mean “than.“
    

	juman şăkaran jyvăr		oak is heavier than linden 
					(lit. “Oak from linden is  heavy“)
	utran şüle, kurăkran lutra 	“Higher than a horse, lower than the grass“
					(Folk-riddle: Answer: ‘saddle‘)
	yrăran yră			best of all 
					(lit. “good from good,“ i. e., better than good)
	Atăl şavaltan pysăk		the Volga is bigger than  the Tsivil

    F. Sometimes still other words must be used as the English equivalents of the Chuvash ablative.
    

	vişĕ yvăltan pĕri		one of my three Sons
	acha lashinchen yjtnă		the boy asked (inquired of) his horse 
	suhaltan			(seized him) by the beard (lit. “from the beard“)
	kuşran nachar			weak in the eyes
	şukran				on account of there not  being any
	sivĕren				on account of the cold