Absolutive (verb form)

In Indic linguistics, the term absolutive is sometimes used as a synonym of converb.

Polysemy

The term absolutive is also used for a grammatical case (see absolutive case).

Synonyms

• gerund: this term is more widely used, e.g., by Tikkanen (1987).
• conjunctive participle
• converb

See converb for more synonyms.

Origin

Schlegel (1820) first called the Sanskrit converb an "absolute participle", apparently to contrast it with the Latin and Greek participium conjunctum, which agrees with an argument of the main clause in gender, number and case, while the Sanskrit converb does not show any agreement. The term absolutive originated around the middle of the 19th century in anti-Boppian German-speaking circles (see Tikkanen 1987:37 and Haspelmath 1995:46 for discussion; Franz Bopp used the term gerund).

References

• Schlegel, August Wilhelm von. 1820. "Ausgaben indischer Bücher: Nalus." Indische Bibliothek 2: 96-128.

• Tikkanen, Bertil. 1987. The Sanskrit gerund: a synchronic, diachronic and typological analysis. (Studia Orientalia, 62.) Helsinki: Finnish Oriental Society.

Other languages

• German Absolutiv
• Russian деепричастие