In Linguistic, one calls vocative the Cas expressing the direct interpellation of a person (or a thing) by means of an appellative (proper name or term of address). In the languages with variation, this appellative takes the mark of the vocative.

In the Indo-European Languages flexional, the vocative is characterized by a clean absence of Désinence: either it is the Voyelle set of themes (a Suffixe being placed before the endings in what one generally names the second variation in Latin and Greek) which takes the stamp instead of usual and which is followed of no ending, or it is that of the personal one which is taken again such as it is, often without lengthening.

Thus, the name of the Indo-European wolf in is a name set of themes. Its personal is the following:

• Indo-European: *wl̥kʷ- (radical) + - O (vowel set of themes) + - S (ending of personal);

That corresponds, in the language-girls, with:

• Latin: lupus , which analyzes lup-u-s well;
• Greek: λύκ-ο- ( lúk-o-s );
• Sanskrit: vr̥k-a-s .

With the vocative, the vowel set of themes takes the stamp and is followed of no ending:

• Indo-European *wl̥kʷ- + - E +Ø .

That is to say:

• Latin: lup-e-Ø ;
• Greek: λύκ-ε ( lúk-e-Ø );
• Sanskrit: vr̥k-a-Ø .

The vocative in the Indo-European languages thus does not have an ending, which one could also show with variations not sets of themes, in which, however, the lengthening of the ending of personal can be cancelled with the vocative (what, in oneself, still does not constitute an ending but an absence of ending). Other phenomena are notable, such of accented displacements. An example shows well these two phenomena, it is the name for “father” in Greek:

• personal: πατήρ (Indo-European: *ph₂tḗr-Ø , without ending, the lengthening of the last vowel sufficient);
• vocative: πάτερ (Indo-European: *ph́₂tĕr-Ø , without ending, lengthening and with increase of the accent).

Russian vocative

As Russian old man , there existed in the singular of the specific forms of the vocative:

• жена (woman) → жен о !

• вълкъ (wolf) → вълч е !
• конь (horse) → кон ю !
• гость (host) → гост и !
• сынъ (wire) → сын у !
• мати (mother) → мат и !

The vocative disappeared from modern Russian, except in certain set phrases of religious origin, of which most known is: Боже мой ! me “My God! ” (“God”: Бог).

Other Slavic languages

The vocative exists always at least in Czech Bulgare and :

• Bulgarian: другар → другар ю “comrade”, госпожица → госпожиц е Czech “young lady”
• : side → pan' e' “Mister”, žena → žen' o' “woman”

Sources and references

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