Overview of Noun Cases

The inflection (altering of form) of nouns is called declension. The classes of declensions are called cases, and together they form the Noun case system.

In Pali, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and participles are declined in eight cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, ablative, genitive, dative and locative.

This post summaries the various Pali noun cases that we have discussed so far (and some we haven't).

English has largely lost its case system although personal pronouns still have three cases, which are simplified forms of the nominative, accusative and genitive cases.

In Pali, a noun is placed in one or other case as is required by its grammatical function in the sentence. With the exception of the nominative, vocative and some instances of the accusative case, the oblique cases as they are termed can be rendered in English by prepositional phrases.

Overview of Pali Noun Cases

English grammar	Pāli case	Generally used to denote:	English prepositional equivalent
Subject	Nominative	Grammatic subject of a verb and its attributes
	Vocative	Forms of address
Direct object	Accusative	Destination of action or motion, i.e. The object of a transitive verb	(done) to... (gone) to...
Possessive	Genitive	union, ‘whose?’, owner or possessor of a thing;	x‘s, of/by, to have
Indirect or Prepositional object	Dative †	Beneficiary. To whom or for whom an action is done or to whom something is given. Purpose of action	To, for In order to
Prepositional object	Ablative	Separation. cause or direction; from whom, what, where or when an action proceeds	From, out of, as, after
Prepositional object	Instrumental	The instrument by or through which the action is achieved. The agent of passive verbs	By, with, through, due to, because of
Prepositional object	Locative	The place (in time or space) where the action takes place	At, in, on, among, regarding

Summary of the Syntax of Pali Cases

I've included some example for clarification but many more examples can be found in Perniola pg 302 onward (See Pali Language resources).

It should be noted that although seen as separate cases in many instances, two or more of the cases are identical in form (endings); this is especially true of the genitive and dative cases and so become hard to distinguish.

Nominative

The nominative is used as the grammatical subject in two contexts:

• Subject of an active sentence: ‘he eats food’,
• Subject (target) of a passive sentence: 'the food is eaten by him'.

• Any word which qualifies the subject. A subject attribute, an adjective or noun in apposition with another noun is in nominative. 'Sariputta, the wise'
• The predicate/compliment of verbs ‘to be’ in equational sentences. 'Sariputta, is wise'

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Nominative

Vocative

The vocative case is used in direct address of people (and sometimes objects). Thus the name of the person being spoken to is put in the vocative. It is never the first word of a sentence.

Accusative

The accusative (object) case is generally used to denote:

• a direct object of a transitive verb or active participle,
• nouns and adjectives used adverbially (usually in neuter accusative singular); sukaṃ = ‘happily’
• the goal of a motion, to where something is moving, both literally and figuratively. 
• duration of or extension in time,  point in time – when
• a double object of bi-transitive verbs, and with verbs of speech - to ‘call, tell, ask’ - which can take two accusative objects: what was said and to whom,
• causative verbs may also take two accusatives: the person or thing caused to act, and the object of the action itself,
• sometimes used as the object of a preposition; anu vassaṃ = ‘every year’
• despite of some attendant circumstance when part of an absolute construction.
• Any attribute of a noun also in accusative.

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Accusative

Instrumental

The instrumental (or with) case indicates,: 

• the person or means by or through which an action is achieved; as in: cakkhunā rūpaṁ passati = ‘he sees a form with the eye’
• the cause or reason due to which an action takes place; rukkho vātena oṇamati = ‘the tree by/due to the wind bends’.
• the agent of passive or causative verbs or passive past participles,
• accompanied by… or possession by…,
• some attendant circumstance,
• a starting point or direction towards a goal of motion (in acc), eg. from A to B
• the time within which something happens; divasena patto = ‘arrived in one day’
• often used adverbially to indicate manner; sukhena = ‘with happiness’ - happily
• in comparisons, the thing compared; attanā piyataro = ‘more dearer than the self’

The instrumental may also verge on the Ablative/Dative

• used to express motive, cause, or reason (due to, because of); karaṇiyena = ‘due to obligation’
• in questions can take the meaning ‘what is the use of… ?’
• the word attho (also aṭṭho) ‘desire, want, need’ takes an object in instrumental; maṇinā me attho = ‘my want (of) a jewel’;

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Instrumental

Ablative

The ablative case is used generally to express separation or departure (from where/what):

• movement away from or release from something; gāmā apenti = ‘they left the village’
• and with verbs having the meaning ‘to avoid or to obtain’, hiding from or restrained from something,
• place or time from where or when an action proceeds,
• when some direction is expressed
• the measure of length, breadth, or distance
• with comparative adjectives, that with which a comparison is made; suttā seyyo = ‘better than sleep’
• frequently used adverbially

The ablative may also used to express motive, cause, or reason (due to, regarding, on account of); sīlato naṁ pasaṁsanti = ‘they praise him regarding his virtue’.

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Ablative

[Quick note on the Dative & Genitive cases: dative case overlaps with genitive in form - that is the declension endings are almost identical. Authors differ on which functions are dative and which genitive. Most follow the paradigm set by the other classical languages namely Latin & Greek. But you will see differences between grammar guides as to what belongs where.]

Dative

Generally, the dative is used to indicate the person who benefits by some action:

• When something is given to or owed to someone - the indirect object,
• When something is done for someone.
• When someone is informed or told of something.
• When something is refused, the person is put in the dative.
• When someone or something is liked or disliked, the feeling of pleasure, anger or jealousy.

These can be summaries as:

• Dative of influence: denoting the person to whom something is or is done.
• Dative of interest: denoting the person for whom something is or is done.
• Dative of purpose or end: denoting the purpose for which something is or is done.

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Dative

Genitive

The genitive case is used to denote relations between objects, generally that of belonging and usually coming before the owned/possessed noun. Though used in many ways it can generally be rendered as “of” or by ‘s.

• Possessive genitive: denoting possession or ownership of that which it qualifies, or the thing by which something is composed or consisting as in: rukkhassa sākhā = ‘the branch of a tree’; also in groups or heaps as in: suvaṇṇassa rāsi = ‘a heap of gold’.
• Partitive genitive: denoting a part of the whole which it qualifies, often with superlatives; as in: sabbayodhānam atisūro = ‘of all the warriors,
• Genitive of quality: denoting some quality or characteristic of the noun it qualifies.
• Subjective/agent genitive: denoting the agent of action; as in ‘the cat’s hunting’ where the cat is the one doing the hunting. 'hunting by the cat'
• Objective genitive: denoting the object towards which an action is directed or the feeling; as in ‘the cat’s hunting’ where the cat is the one being hunted. 'hunting the cat'
• Often used with words denoting time, locality, direction and distance,

sometimes indicates the agent of passive past participles or absolutive verbs,
It indicates some attendant circumstance when part of an absolute construction.

As the Dative and Genitive are virtually indistinuguishable in form, grammarians often differ in their assignment of these attributes between the cases. Noticeably, Perniola places many of the features of the dative with the genitive case.

The Genitive/Dative is often used with the verbs hoti / bhavati meaning 'to have' as in: puttā me n’atthi ‘sons+for me+are+not’ = ‘I have no sons’.

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Genitive

Locative

The locative denotes the circumstance or site in space (where) or time (when), a person is, or an action takes place; and can generally be rendered by ‘in, at, on, near, among, in respect to’. It includes:

• when a member is selected from a class or group, the group is put in locative, meaning amidst, amongst, and that with which a comparison is made when used with adjectives in the superlative
• when someone is careful in doing something, the action is put in the locative,
• words signifying reverence, respect, love, delighting in, saluting, seizing, kissing, as well as striking, offending, doubt, fear & pain,
• the circumstances in spite of or under which an action is done especially in absolute constructions.
• frequently used adverbially

And the locative sometimes borders on the genitive; goṇesu sāmī = ‘an owner of oxen’.

Also used to express the cause, reason, or motive of an action, as in: kuñjaro dantesu haññate = ‘the elephant is killed for tusks’.

Expressions of Time

Many of the above cases are used in expressing statements of time as follows:

• Accusative: 'time during which'; 'for three days'
• Instrumental: 'time within which'; 'in three days'
• Ablative: 'time after which'; 'after three days'
• Locative: 'time at which'; 'on the third day'

For more see:  Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas Locative

In the next post we'll take an overview of Morphology; Before moving on to how noun cases are inflected in further posts...