Editing Mari language (section)

== Declension ==

Like other [[Uralic languages]], Mari is an [[agglutinating language]]. It lacks grammatical gender, and does not use articles.

=== Case ===
Meadow Mari has 9 [[Productivity (linguistics)|productive]] [[Declension|cases]], of which 3 are [[locative case]]s. The usage of the latter ones is restricted to inanimate objects.

Many cases, aside from their basic function, are used in other situations, such as in expressions of time.
* [[Nominative case|Nominative]], used for subjects, predicatives and for other grammatical functions.
* [[Genitive case|Genitive]], is used for possessive constructions.
* [[Dative case|Dative]], the indirect object's case.
* [[Accusative case|Accusative]], the direct object's case.
* [[Comitative case|Comitative]], used when a subject or an object can be split up into parts, or in adverbials expressing the involvement of an object in an action.
* [[Comparative case|Comparative]], used to express the likeness to something.
* [[Inessive case|Inessive]], used to state where something is.
* [[Illative case|Illative]], used to state where something is going.
* [[Lative case|Lative]], used to express into what something is going.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case Name
! Suffix
! Question Words
! Example (animate)
! Example (inanimate)
|-
| Nominative
| -
| кӧ, мо (who, what)
| йоча (a child; subject)
| ял (a village; subject)
|-
| Genitive
| -(ы)н
| кӧн, мон (whose, what's)
| йоча'''н''' (of a child)
| ял'''ын''' (of a village)
|-
| Dative
| -лан
| кӧлан, молан (to whom, to what/why)
| йоча'''лан''' (to a child)
| ял'''лан''' (to a village)
|-
| Accusative
| -(ы)м
| кӧм, мом (whom, what)
| йоча'''м''' (a child; object)
| ял'''ым''' (a village; object)
|-
| Comitative
| -ге
| кӧге, моге (with whom, with what)
| йоча'''ге''' (with a child)
| ял'''ге''' (with a village)
|-
| Comparative
| -ла
| кӧла, мола (like who, like what)
| йоча'''ла''' (like a child)
| ял'''ла''' (like a village)
|-
| Inessive
| -(ы)ште/(ы)што/(ы)штӧ
| кушто (where)
| -
| ялы'''ште''' (in a village)
|-
| Illative
| -(ы)шке/(ы)шко/(ы)шкӧ, -(ы)ш<ref group="note">The illative has a short form, equivalent to the long form in meaning.</ref>
| кушко/куш (where to)
| -
| ялы'''шке'''/ял'''ыш''' (to a village)
|-
| Lative
| -ш/еш/эш
| кушан (where to)
| -
| ял'''еш''' (into a village)
|}

<references group="note"/>

If a locative statement was to be made about an animate object, postpositions would be used.

Additionally, terms denoting family members have [[Vocative case|vocative]] forms. These are, however, not created with a specific paradigm, and only exist in a few pre-defined cases.

Hill Mari has these cases, plus the [[abessive case]] (of the form -де), which is used to form [[adverbial]]s stating without the involvement or influence of which an action happens.

=== Number ===
Mari, though an agglutinative language, does not have a separate [[morpheme]] to signify [[plural]]ity. There are three particles, which are attached to the end of words with a hyphen, used to signify plural.
* -влак (''-vlak'') – Standard plural form.
* -шамыч (''-šamõč'') – Alternative standard plural, used in many dialects. There is no difference in meaning between these two.
* -мыт (''mət'') – Sociative plural. Used to signify a group of people: the members of a family, a person and their family and friends.

=== Possessive suffixes ===
Every grammatical person in Mari has its own [[possessive suffix]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Person
! Suffix
! Example
|-
| -
| -
| шӱргӧ (face)
|-
| First-person singular
| -ем/эм
| шӱрг'''ем''' (my face)
|-
| Second-person singular
| -ет/эт
| шӱрг'''ет''' (your face)
|-
| Third-person singular
| -же/жо/жӧ/ше/шо/шӧ
| шӱргы'''жӧ''' (his/her/its face)
|-
| First-person plural
| -на
| шӱргы'''на''' (our face)
|-
| Second-person plural
| -да
| шӱргы'''да''' (your face)
|-
| Third-person plural
| -шт/ышт
| шӱргы'''шт''' (their face)
|}

=== Additional suffixes ===
Additional particles, falling into none of the categories above, can be added to the very end of a word, giving it some additional meaning. For example, the suffix -ат ''(-at''), means 'also' or 'too'.

=== Arrangement of suffixes ===
The arrangement of suffixes varies from case to case. Although the case suffixes are after the possessive suffixes in the genitive and the accusative, the opposite is the case for the locative cases. In the dative, both arrangements are possible.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case
! Singular
! Example
! Plural
|-
| Nominative
| P
| пӧртем – 'my house (subject)'
| пӧртем-влак – 'my houses (subject)'
|-
| Genitive
| rowspan="3"| P → C
| пӧртемын – 'of my house'
| пӧртем-влакын – 'of my houses'
|-
| Accusative
| пӧртемым – 'my house (object)'
| пӧртем-влакым – 'my houses (object)'
|-
| Comitative
| пӧртемге – 'with my house'
| пӧртем-влакге – 'with my houses'
|-
| Dative
| P → C, C → P
| пӧртемлан, пӧртланем – 'to my house'
| пӧртем-влаклан – 'to my houses'
|-
| Comparative
| P → C, C → P
| пӧртемла, пӧртлам – 'like my house'
| пӧртем-влакла – 'like my houses'
|-
| Inessive
| rowspan="3"| C → P
| пӧртыштем – 'in my house'
| пӧрт-влакыштем – 'in my houses'
|-
| Illative
| пӧртышкем – 'into my house'
| пӧрт-влакышкем – 'into my houses'
|-
| Lative
| пӧртешем – 'into my house'
| пӧрт-влакешем – 'into my houses'
|-
|}

There are many other arrangements in the plural—the position of the plural particle is flexible. The arrangement here is one commonly used possibility.

=== Comparison ===
[[Comparison (grammar)|Comparison]] happens with adjectives and adverbs. The [[comparative]] is formed with the suffix -рак (-rak). The [[superlative]] is formed by adding the word эн (en) in front.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Comparative
! Superlative
|-
| кугу – 'big'
| кугурак – 'bigger'
| эн кугу – 'biggest'
|}