What does elative mean?
An elative is a grammatical form found in several languages that expresses movement out of, or away from, the inside of something. In Finnish, for instance, adding the elative ending -sta to a noun signals that someone or something emerges from within it: 'talosta' means 'out of the house'. Estonian and Hungarian have comparable constructions. The term also has a second, related sense in discussions of comparison, where an elative conveys an exceptionally high degree of a quality without explicitly comparing it to another entity — as in some analyses of Arabic adjectival forms. The word derives ultimately from Latin, built on the root of 'elatus', meaning 'raised' or 'carried away'. Largely confined to academic and linguistic contexts, 'elative' is nonetheless a useful term for anyone studying the world's case-rich languages, offering a precise label for a distinction English manages with simple prepositions like 'out of' and 'from'.
nounIn linguistics, a grammatical case or form expressing motion out of or away from the interior of something, as found in languages such as Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian. More broadly, a degree of comparison indicating an extremely high degree of a quality without direct comparison to another entity.
- A grammatical case in certain languages (such as Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian) expressing motion out of or away from the inside of something.
- A category of comparison expressing an exceptionally high degree of a quality without explicitly comparing it to another entity.
"In Finnish, the elative ending -sta marks movement out of a place, as in 'talosta' meaning 'out of the house'."
"In Finnish, the elative case marked by -sta indicates movement from within, as in 'kaupungista', meaning 'from the city'."
"Some grammarians describe expressions like 'she was furious' as elative in force, conveying an intense degree without naming anything being compared."
Standard plural formation applies when referring to multiple instances or examples of the elative case across languages.
"Finnish and Hungarian both feature elatives among their fifteen or more cases."
The same little suffix that means 'out of the house' in Finnish also names a degree of intensity so extreme it refuses to compare itself with anything.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of elative
The word 'elative' comes from the Latin 'elativus', formed from 'elatus', the past participle of 'efferre', meaning 'to carry out or bring forth'. It entered scholarly English usage in the nineteenth century as grammarians described the case systems of Finno-Ugric and Semitic languages. It shares its Latin root with 'elate' and 'elation', both of which carry the sense of being raised up or lifted.
How elative is actually used
'Elative' is a technical term confined mainly to linguistics and comparative grammar; it is rare in everyday speech. When used of degrees of comparison, it is most often encountered in discussions of Semitic languages such as Arabic, where the so-called elative pattern covers both comparative and superlative meanings.
Easily confused with elative
The superlative expresses the highest degree of a quality by comparison ('tallest'), while the elative denotes an extreme degree without comparison or, in grammar, movement out of a place.
'Elated' means overjoyed or in high spirits, whereas 'elative' is a technical linguistic term for a grammatical case or non-comparative degree.