CASES edit
The case endings are the first three vowels,
| -A. | -E. | -I. | |
| in the plural | -AS. | -ES. | -IS. |
For example,
| 1. Kim ? | who ? |
| 2. Kima ? | Whose ? of whom ? |
| 3. Kime ? | to whom ? |
| 4. Kimi ? | whom ? |
The names of the cases are : ,,kimfal, kimafal, kimefal, kimifal," taken from the cases of kim, with the word ,,fal," meaning "case."
1. The kimfal, who-case or nominativ, is the simple form without any added vowel. It answers the question, "Who ?" It is usually translated by the English nominativ.
2. The kimafal, or whose-case, ending in a, is the answer to the question, "Whose?" or "Of whom?" It is usually translated by the possessiv (----'s) or by "of." Fat mana; the man's father or the father of the man. The kimafal is sometimes called the genitiv.
3. The kimefal, or to-whom-case, ends in e and answers the question "to whom ?" It is usually translated by to with the objectiv; but frequently we omit the to ; thus we say "I gave an apple to the boy," or "I gave the boy an apple." "Boy " would be in the kimefal as expressing the indirect object of the action. The kimefal is sometimes called the dativ case.
4. The kimifal, or whom-case, ends in i, answers to the question "Whom ?" and denotes the direct object. In the sentence just given "apple" would be in the kimifal. It corresponds nearly to the English objectiv. It is sometimes called the accusativ. SUMMARY OF THE CASES.
As to endings :
| l. --. | 2. -a | 3. -e | 4. -i |
As to names :
| l. Kimfal. | 2. Kimafal. | 3. Kimefal. | 4. Kimifal. |
Or, after the classical style :
| l. Nominativ. | 2. Genitiv. | 3. Dativ. | 4. Accusativ. |
Answering the questions
| l. Who ? | 2. Whose ? | 3. To whom ? | 4.Whom ? |
Denoting usually
| l. The Subject. | 2. The Possessor. | 3. The Indirect Object. | 4. The Direct Object. |
Translated by
| l. The Nominativ. | 2. The Possessiv or of | 3. to. | 4. The Objectiv. |
The kimfal, preceded by the interjection ,,o" and followed by an exclamation point, is used in addressing a person: ,,o sol!" "Sir." This is sometimes considered as a separate case, called the kimofal or vocativ. It seems, however, better to consider it a nominativ independent, as in English.
,,o" is sometimes omitted in this case. <A NAME="p008"></A>Prepositions regularly govern the kimfal. Thus, we express "near me" by ,,nilü ob," not ,,nilü obi" nor ,,nilü obe;" "out of the house," ,,se dom," not ,,se doma" nor ,,se domi."
Occasionally, the kimifal will be found after a preposition instead of i at the end of the preposition itself, as will be explained hereafter.
A word used elliptically, like "good-morning," "thanks," "my compliments," is usually in the kimifal, a verb being understood as, [I wish you] good-morning, [I return] thanks, [I present] my compliments.
Directions for translating into Volapük:
- l. A word in the nominativ is put in the kimfal. If the nominativ is
independent put o before the kimfal.
2. The possessiv is rendered by the kimafal.
3. A word preceded by "of" is generally put in the kimafal.
4. A word (other than a verb in the infinitiv) preceded by "to" is generally
put in the kimefal, but not if "to" signifies motion. "I say to you," ,,sagob
olse"; "I go to you," ,,golob al olsi."
5. A word preceded by any other preposition is usually in the kimfal.
6. A word in the objectiv governed by a verb is put in the kimifal.
The adjectiv has ordinarily no case-ending ; but occasionally it takes the case-endings of the noun which it qualifies. This is only done when the adjectiv, being out of its regular place, might be supposed to qualify some other word. Thus, dönan, meaning servant ; blod, brother, and fiedik, faithful.
Dünane fiedik bloda; or,
fiedike dünane bloda; or,
dünane bloda fiedike; to the faithful servant of the brother.
Dünane bloda fiedik; or,
dünane fiedika bloda; to the servant of the faithful brother.
But it is better to leave the adjectiv in its usual place.