Semblative case

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The semblative case is a grammatical case that denotes the similarity of one entity to another.

In Wagiman[edit]

Wagiman, an indigenous Australian language, has a semblative case suffix -yiga, that is functionally identical to the -like suffix in English, as in the example:

gahan mamin dup-pa ga-yu jilimakkun-yiga
that white man sit-ASP 3sg-be woman-SEMBL
That white man sits like a woman

In English[edit]

English has a number of semblative derivational suffixes, including -like and -esque.

Texas Man Catches Fish With Human-Like Teeth [1]

However, as in many other languages, semblativity in English is marked with derivational affixes instead of being an inflectional case.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-08-16. Retrieved 2006-07-19.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)