ablative absolute

ablative absolute

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæb.lə.tɪv æb.soʊˈlut/

Etymology

Calque of Latin ablativus absolutus.

Noun

ablative absolute (plural ablatives absolute or ablative absolutes)

1. (grammar) A construction in Latin and Oscan and Umbrian in which an independent phrase with a noun in the ablative case has a participle, adjective, or noun, expressed or implied, which agrees with it in gender, number and case – both words forming a clause grammatically unconnected with the rest of the sentence.

Examples
Tarquinio regnante, Pythagoras venit. (Tarquinius reigning, Pythagoras came. or When Tarquinius was king, Pythagoras came.) The food being good, they ate well.

Translations

linguistic construction in Latin

Dutch: losse ablatief French: ablatif absolu m German: Ablativus absolutus (de)

Portuguese: ablativo absoluto m Romanian: ablativ absolut (ro) Telugu: సతిసప్తమి (te) (satisaptami)

See also

• dangling participle
• genitive absolute
• free adjunct
• nominative absolute

Further reading

• Bauer, Brigitte (2000) Archaic Syntax in Indo-European, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, pages 261–333