Editing Distributive case

{{Short description|Grammatical case}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2015}}
The '''distributive case''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''distr'''}}) is used on nouns for the meanings of 'per' or 'each.'

In [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] it is {{lang|hu|-nként}} and expresses the manner when something happens to each member of a set one by one (e.g., {{lang|hu|fejenként}} "per head", {{lang|hu|esetenként}} "in some case"), or the frequency in time ({{lang|hu|hetenként}} "once a week", {{lang|hu|tízpercenként}} "every ten minutes").

In the [[Finnish language]], this [[adverb]] type is rare, even rarer in the singular. Its ending is {{lang|fi|-ttain/-ttäin}}.<ref name="PanuMäkinen--AdvCases">{{cite web|last1=Mäkinen|first1=Panu|title=Finnish Grammar - Adverbial Cases|url=http://users.jyu.fi/~pamakine/kieli/suomi/sijat/sijatadverbien.html|website=users.jyu.fi|publisher=University of Jyväskylä|access-date=6 March 2015}}</ref> The basic meaning is "separately for each". For example, {{lang|fi|maa}} ("country") becomes {{lang|fi|maittain}} for an expression like {{lang|fi|Laki ratifioidaan maittain}} ("The law is ratified separately in each country"). It can be used to distribute the action to frequent points in time, e.g., {{lang|fi|päivä}} (day) has the plural distributive {{lang|fi|päivittäin}} (each day).

It can mean also "in (or with) regard to the (cultural) perspective" when combined with a word referring to an inhabitant ({{lang|fi|-lais-}}). Frequently Finns ({{lang|fi|suomalaiset}}) say that {{lang|fi|suomalaisittain tuntuu oudolta, että ...}}, or "in the Finnish perspective, it feels strange that ...".

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last= Anhava |first= Jaakko |year= 2015 |title= Criteria For Case Forms in Finnish and Hungarian Grammars |location= Helsinki |website= journal.fi |publisher= Finnish Scholarly Journals Online |url= https://journal.fi/store/article/view/52392/16242}}

{{Grammatical cases}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Distributive Case}}
[[Category:Hungarian language]]
[[Category:Grammatical cases]]