Livonian is a Finnic language, and, as such, is closely related to both Estonian and Finnish.
Tones Livonian is a pitch accent language. It has a broken tone that can appear in words. The broken tone is marked with an apostrophe. lēḑ ‘sphere’lē’ḑ ‘leaf’nīņ ‘bark strip’nī’ņ ‘wide belt’mō ‘earth’mō’ ‘down; earthwards’ūdõ ‘to fry’ū’dõ ‘to strain’pūstõ ‘tree (elat. sg.)’pū’stõ ‘to clean’
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns Singular First Person ("I") Second Person ("You") Third Person ("He" or "She") Nominative minā/ma sinā/sa tämā/ta Genitive min sin täm Dative minnõn/min sinnõn/sin tämmõn/täm Partitive mīnda sīnda tǟnda Instrumental minkõks sinkõks tämkõks Illative minnõ/minnõz sinnõ/sinnõz tämmõ/tämmõz Inessive minsõ sinsõ tämsõ Elative minstõ sinstõ tämstõ
Plural First Person ("We") Second Person ("You") Third Person ("They") Nominative mēg/meg tēg/teg nämād/ne Genitive mäd täd nänt Dative mäddõn/män täddõn/tän näntõn/nän Partitive mēḑi tēḑi nēḑi Instrumental mädkõks tädkõks näntkõks Illative mēži tēži nēži Inessive mēši tēši nēši Elative mēšti tēšti nēšti
Note: the third person pronouns do not possess a gender in the singular or the plural.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Singular("this, this one") Plural("these, these ones") Nominative se ne Genitive sīe nänt Dative sīen näntõn Partitive sīeda nēḑi Instrumental sīekõks näntkõks Illative siezõ nēži Inessive siesõ nēši Elative siestõ nēšti
Note: The plural demonstrative pronoun is the same as the third person plural personal pronoun.
Reflexive Pronouns
Singular("myself, yourself, oneself") Plural("ourselves, yourself/ves, themselves") Nominative iž eņtšõd Genitive eņtš eņtšõd Dative eņtšõn eņtšõn Partitive ēņtšta eņtšidi Instrumental eņtšõks eņtšõdõks Illative eņtšõ(z) eņtšiz Inessive eņtšõs eņtšis Elative eņtšõst eņtšist
Note: The usage of the reflexive pronoun is broad. Of course, it is used as a reflexive pronoun as in "minnõn eņtšõn um vajag...," meaning "I need..." [lit: to myself is necessary...]. However, the pronoun can also express possession; it frequently replaces the genitive forms of the personal pronouns, where it expresses "their own". For example: "ma sīeda kūliz eņtš izast", or "I heard it from my father." Also, reflexive pronouns can be used in adverbial expressions: "täm eņtš ie", "this same night".
Cases
The following are the cases in Livonian: + Case Singular Plural Nominative -∅ -t-d-õd Genitive -∅ -t-d-õd Partitive -tā-dā-ța-ta-da-tõ-dõ-õ-∅ -ți-ḑi-ti-di-i Dative -n-õn -ddõn-dõn-tõn-õdõn Instrumental -kõks-ks-õks -dkõks-tkõks-dõks-tõks Translative -ks Illative -zõ-(õ)z -ži-īž-iž-ž-īz-iz Inessive -š(õ)-s(õ)-õs(õ) -ši-īs-is Elative -št(õ)-st(õ)-õst(õ) -šti-īst-ist Instructive -īņ-iņ Allative -l(õ)-õl -il-iļ Adessive -l(õ)-õl -il-iļ Ablative -ld(õ(st))-õld -iļd Abessive -tõ Lative -j-jõ Essive -nõ-n Exessive -ndõ(st)
Examples + līvli "Livonian" Singular Plural Nominative līvli - līvlizt -t Genitive līvliz - līvlizt -t Partitive līvliztõ -tõ līvliži -i Dative līvlizõn -õn līvliztõn -tõn Instrumental līvlizõks -õks līvliztõks -tõks Illative līvlizõ -õ līvližiz -iz Inessive līvlizõs -õs līvližis -is Elative līvlizõst -õst līvližist -ist
+ ve’ž "water" Singular Plural Nominative ve’ž - viedūd -d Genitive vie’d - viedūd -d Partitive vietā -tā vežži -i Dative vie’ddõn -õn viedūdõn -dõn Instrumental vie’dkõks -kõks viedūdõks -dõks Illative vie’ddõ -õ vežīz -īz Inessive vie’dsõ -sõ vežīs -īs Elative vie’dstõ -stõ vežīst -īst
Moods The following are the moods in Livonian: +Mood and TensePersonSingularPluralIndicative (present tense)1 -b -õb — -mõ -m -õm2 -d -õd -tõ -t -õt3 -b -õb — -bõd -õbõd -āt(õ)Indicative (past tense)1 -, (comma indicates palatalization of final consonant) -i -īz -iz -ž -kš -,mõ -imõ -īzmõ -izmõ -žmõ -kšmõ2 -,d -id -īzt -izt -žt -št -,t(õ) -it(õ) -īzt(õ) -izt(õ) -žt(õ) -kšt(õ)3 -, -id -īz -iz -ž -kš -,t(õ) -it(õ) -īzt(õ) -izt(õ) -žt(õ) -kšt(õ)Conditional1 -ks -õks -kstõ -õkstõ2 -kst -õkst -kstõ -õkstõ -ks -õks -kstõ -õkstõJussive1 -gõm -õgõm -kkõm -kõm2 – -gīd -gid -õgid -kkõd -kõdQuotative1–3 -i -ji -iji -id -jid -ijidJussive1–3 -gõ -g |-õg -kkõ -kõ -gõd -õgõd -kkõd -kõd
References
Bibliography