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Vocative case
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====English==== {{See also|Apostrophe (figure of speech)}} {{Wiktionary|O#Particle}} The vocative is not a grammatical case in English. Expressions for which the vocative would be used in languages which have that case, are nominative in English. In translations of languages that use the vocative case, translators have added the [[Particle (grammar)|particle]] "O" before the noun, as is often seen in the [[King James Version]] of the [[Bible]]: for example the Greek ''ὀλιγόπιστοι'', vocative masculine plural, (in [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 8:26) is translated "O ye of little faith". While it is not strictly archaic, it is sometimes used to "archaeise" speech; it is often seen as very formal, and sees use in rhetoric and poetry, or as a comedic device to subvert modern speech. Another example is the recurrent use of the phrase "O (my) Best Beloved" by [[Rudyard Kipling]] in his ''[[Just So Stories]]''. The use of ''O'' may be considered a form of [[clitic]] and should not be confused with the interjection ''oh''.<ref>''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'', 15th ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003), {{ISBN|0-226-10403-6|}}, s. 5.197.</ref> However, as the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] points out, "O" and "oh" were originally used interchangeably. Modern English commonly uses the objective case for vocative expressions but sets them off from the rest of the sentences with pauses as interjections, rendered in writing as commas (the '''vocative comma'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the Vocative Comma? Definition, Examples in the Vocative Case |url=https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/vocative-comma |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Writing Explained |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-06 |title=Hello, vocative comma |url=https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/hello-vocative-comma |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Macmillan Dictionary Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>). Two common examples of vocative expressions in English are the phrases "Mr. President" and "Madam Chairwoman".{{Clarify|reason=needs examples??|date=June 2024}} Some traditional texts use ''Jesu'', the Latin vocative form of ''Jesus''. One of the best-known examples is ''[[Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring]]''.
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