In linguistics, abessive (abbreviated ABE or ABESS), caritive and privative (abbreviated PRIV) are names for a grammatical case expressing the lack or absence of the marked noun. In English, the corresponding function is expressed by the preposition without or by the suffix -less.
The name abessive is derived from Latin abesse "to be away/absent", and is especially used in reference to Uralic languages. The name caritive is derived from Latin carere "to lack", and is especially used in reference to Caucasian languages. The name privative is derived from Latin privare "to deprive".
Famous quotes containing the word case:
“If someone does something we disapprove of, we regard him as bad if we believe we can deter him from persisting in his conduct, but we regard him as mad if we believe we cannot. In either case, the crucial issue is our control of the other: the more we lose control over him, and the more he assumes control over himself, the more, in case of conflict, we are likely to consider him mad rather than just bad.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)