Tabasaran language

Cases

Tabasaran has 4 grammatical, or core, cases (absolutive, ergative, genitive, and dative), but the number of locative cases is debated. Tabasaran was listed in the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest case system in the world, with 48. Hjelmslev (1935) claimed that Tabasaran had the 'empirical maximum' number of cases, with 52 (though 2 occur only on adjectives). However, such claims are contested, and other languages such as Tsez would have even larger counts under such definitions.^[10] Comrie & Polinsky (1998) analyze the system as having 14 or 15 cases depending on the dialect.^[10][11] Babaliyeva (2023) identifies 46 cases^[8], and Magometov (1965) identifies 47 in the southern dialect and 53 in the northern dialect.^[12]

The grammatical cases are formed as follows:^[8]

• The absolutive case is unmarked. E.g., xudul, "grandchild"
• There are multiple suffixes that can form the ergative: -i, -yi, -di, -ri, -li-, -ni, -u (-ü), -nu, -ru, -lu. -i and -di are the most productive forms. Tabasaran has an oblique stem, which is identical to the ergative case. E.g., tur-i, "sword"
• The genitive is formed by the suffix -n attached to the oblique stem. E.g., šüš-di-n gažin, "glass jug"
• The dative is formed by the suffix -z attached to the oblique stem. E.g., ğula-z, "village"

Example sentence using the absolutive, genitive, and dative cases:^[8]

The analysis of cases from Babaliyeva (2023) identifies 7 locative cases: in 'in'; ad 'near to'; cont 'in vertical contact' or 'inside a mass'; post 'behind'; sub 'under'; inter 'between' or 'among'; and super 'on'. The locative cases can be suffixed to the noun alone, or the elative, lative, and comitative cases are suffixed onto the locative forms of the noun, creating 28 cases:

The additional 14 cases are formed by adding the directive suffix -di to the elative and lative series (with some changes in the lative series).

By contrast, the analysis from Comrie and Polinksy (1998) count each suffix as a case, rather than considering each combination of suffixes as a case. In addition to the 4 grammatical cases (identical to the ones described in Babaliyeva's analysis), there are 8 local cases in the northern dialect, and 7 in the southern dialect. These morphemes describe spatial orientation, or the reference point.

The local cases alone have an essive meaning, or a lack of motion. In order to express motion away or motion from an object, the allative suffix -na or ablative suffix -an (respectively) is added. The local cases and the dative can also take the translative suffix -di to mark the location as less specific.^[10]

Pronouns

First- and second-person pronouns distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first person plural, and have irregular declensions, with the absolutive and ergative forms being identical.

The third-person pronouns are dumu (singular) and durar (plural).

Demonstrative pronouns show a proximal and distal distinction, as well as a distinction in elevation (higher or lower than the speaker). The emphatic particle ha- can be prefixed to each demonstrative.^[8]

There are three reflexive (anaphoric) pronouns:^[8]