Ventiv
The ventiv is a grammatical category of the verb of some languages. It expresses that the action is carried out locally in the direction of the speaker (“ventiv” from Latin venire , “to come”). Ventiv occurs more frequently in some ancient oriental languages such as Akkadian and Sumerian , as well as in some languages of the Caucasus , North Africa (such as Maɗi, a central Sudan language ) and Oceania (e.g. Lenakel ). He is not limited to verbs of movement.
Examples
Sumerian
| lugal | mu gene-Ø |
| king | Ventiv- go-3s. subject |
| 'The king came ' | |
on the other hand without Ventiv:
| lugal | ì-ĝen-Ø |
| king | Prefix (*) - go-3s. Subject |
| ´The king went (away) ´ | |
(*) The prefix ì- is used here because the verb form is finite and every finite verb form must have at least one prefix. The prefix has no grammatical or lexical meaning.
A ventiv often comes with verbs that do not express any movement:
| lugal-e | é | mu -n-ŕú-Ø |
| King- Ergative | temple | Ventiv -3s. Agent -errichten-3s. Patiens |
| 'The king built the temple ( here )' | ||
Lenacle
The Austronesian language Lenakel (spoken in Vanuatu ) not only has a Ventiv suffix, but also a suffix that indicates the direction of the addressee, as well as a neutral suffix that indicates that the action is neither in the direction of the speaker nor is carried out in the direction of the addressed. The following example is taken from the grammar of John Lynch (1978), see literature.
| ieramɨra | r-armwig | m-ɨni- pa | to | kat-lukewarm |
| leader | 3rd person standing up | and-say- Ventiv | dative | Inclusive we - dual |
| ´The leader got up and said to both of us ... ´ | ||||
credentials
- Edzard, Dietz-Otto: A Sumerian Grammar , Brill Academic Publishers, 2003, ISBN 9004126082
- Lynch, John: A Grammar of Lenakel. (Pacific Linguistics Series B No. 55) The Australian National University, Canberra 1978.