The Proper Locative Case: Location and Topic
The Locative case (Prepositional) specifies location ('in', 'on', 'at') or the topic of discussion ('about'). It is unique because it is always used with a preposition, such as въ (in), на (on), or о (about). Church Slavonic has singular, dual, and plural forms for the Locative case.
Nouns:
- Singular Masculine/Neuter: hard -ѣ́, soft -и or -и. (e.g., въ до́мѣ - in a house, о мꙋ́жи - about a man, въ селѣ̀ - in a village, на по́ли - in a field)
- Singular Feminine: hard -ѣ́, soft -и. (e.g., на рѣцѣ̀ - on a river, о сестрѣ̀ - about a sister, на землѝ - on the earth)
- Dual (all genders): hard/soft -оу. (e.g., о бра́тоу - about two brothers, о се́строу - about two sisters)
- Plural (all genders): hard -ѣхъ, soft -ихъ. (e.g., въ до́мѣхъ - in houses, о мꙋжє́хъ - about men, въ се́лѣхъ - in villages, на рѣ́кахъ - on rivers, о зе́млѧхъ - about lands)
Adjectives (Short/Indefinite):
- Singular Masculine/Neuter: hard -ѣмъ, soft -имъ. (e.g., въ до́брѣмъ до́мѣ - in a good house, о си́нимъ мо́ри - about the blue sea)
- Singular Feminine: hard -ѣи, soft -ии. (e.g., на до́брѣи рѣцѣ̀ - on a good river, о си́нии землѝ - about the blue earth)
- Dual (all genders): hard/soft -оу. (e.g., о до́броу бра́тоу - about two good brothers, о си́ноу о́чима - about two blue eyes)
- Plural (all genders): hard -ыхъ, soft -ихъ. (e.g., въ до́брыхъ до́мѣхъ - in good houses, о си́нихъ мꙋжє́хъ - about blue men)
Examples: Моѧ̀ кни́га є҆́сть на столѣ̀ (My book is on the table). Глаго́лемъ о на́шемъ до́мѣ (We are talking about our house). О́ни живꙋ́тъ въ вели́цѣмъ гра́дѣ (They live in a big city). Дѣ́ти игра́ютъ на дво́рѣхъ (Children are playing in the yards).