Editing Hurrian language (section)

=====Case and number=====
Hurrian has 13 [[Grammatical case|cases]] in its system of declension. One of these, the [[equative case]], has a different form in both of the main dialects. In Hattusha and Mari, the usual ending is ''-oš'', termed equative I, whereas in the Mitanni letter we find the form ''-nna'', called equative II. Another case, the so-called 'e-case', is very rare, and carries a [[genitive]] or [[allative]] meaning.

Like many languages in the region, Hurrian is an [[ergativity|ergative]] language, which means that the same case is used for the [[Subject (linguistics)|subject]] of an [[intransitive verb]] as for the [[Object (linguistics)|object]] of a transitive one; this case is called the [[absolutive]]. For the subject of a transitive verb, however, the [[ergative case]] is used. Hurrian has two numbers, singular and plural. The following table outlines the case endings (the terms used for some of the more obscure cases vary between different authors).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case
! Singular
! Plural
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Absolutive case|Absolutive]]''' || ''-Ø'' || ''-Ø'', ''-lla''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Ergative case|Ergative]]''' || ''-š'' || ''-(a)šuš''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Genitive case|Genitive]]''' || ''-fe'', ''-we'' || ''-(a)še''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Dative case|Dative]]''' || ''-fa'', ''-wa'' || ''-(a)ša''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Essive case|Essive]]'''<ref>{{harvnb|Wilhelm|2008|p=94}}</ref><ref name=wegnercase/><br/>(''in, at ...'') || ''-a'' || ''-(a)ša'', ''-a''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Allative case|Allative]]'''<br/>(''to ...'') || ''-ta'' || ''-(a)šta''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Ablative case|Ablative]]'''<br/>(''from ...'') || ''-tan'' || ''-(a)štan''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Instrumental case|Instrumental]]'''<br/>(''with ...'') || ''-ae'' || unattested
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''Ablative-Instrumental'''<br/>(''through/by ...'') || ''-n(i)'', ''-ne'' || ''-(a)šani'', ''-(a)šane''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Comitative case|Comitative]]'''<br/>(''together with ...'') || ''-ra'' || ''-(a)šura''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Associative case|Associative]]'''<br/>(''as ...'') || ''-nn(i)'' || unattested<br/>(often extrapolated ''-(a)šunn(i)'')
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''[[Equative case|Equative]] I'''<br/>(''like ...'') || ''-ōš'' || unattested
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| '''Equative II''' || ''-nna'' || ''-(a)šunna''
|-
| style="background:#eee;"| ''''e-Case'''' || ''-ē'' || unattested
|}

In certain phonological environments, these endings can vary. The ''f'' of the genitive and dative endings merges with a preceding ''p'' or ''t'' giving ''pp'' and ''tt'' respectively, e.g. ''Teššuppe'' (of Teššup), ''Hepat-te'' (of Hepat). The associative can be combined with the instrumental, as in ''šēna-nn-ae'' (brother-''ass-instr''), meaning 'brotherly'.

The so-called [[essive case]] can convey the meaning "as" and a condition, but also to express direction, the aim of a demand, the transition from one condition to another, the [[direct object]] in [[antipassive]] constructions (where the transitive subject receives the absolutive case instead of the ergative), and, in the variety of [[Nuzi]], also the dative.<ref name=wegnercase>{{harvnb|Wegner|2000|pp=56–57}}</ref>