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). OCS has singular, dual, and plural forms for the Locative case.
Nouns:
- Singular Masculine/Neuter: hard -ѣ, soft -и or -и. (e.g., въ до́мѣ - in a house, о мѫжи́ - about a man, въ селѣ́ - in a village, на поли - in a field)
- Singular Feminine: hard -ѣ, soft -и. (e.g., на рѣцѣ́ - on a river, о сестрѣ́ - about a sister, на земли́ - on the earth)
- Dual (all genders): hard/soft -оу. (e.g., о братоу́ - about two brothers, о сестроу́ - about two sisters)
- Plural (all genders): hard -ѣхъ, soft -ихъ. (e.g., въ домѣхъ - in houses, о мѫжихъ - about men, въ селѣхъ - in villages, на рѣкахъ - on rivers, о землѣхъ - about lands)
Adjectives (Simple/Indefinite):
- Singular Masculine/Neuter: hard -ѣмъ, soft -имъ. (e.g., въ добрѣмъ до́мѣ - in a good house, о синимъ мо́ри - about the blue sea)
- Singular Feminine: hard -ѣи, soft -ии. (e.g., на добрѣи рѣцѣ́ - on a good river, о синии земли́ - about the blue earth)
- Dual (all genders): hard/soft -оу. (e.g., о доброу братоу́ - about two good brothers, о си́ноу очи́ма - about two blue eyes)
- Plural (all genders): hard -ѣхъ, soft -ихъ. (e.g., въ добрѣхъ домѣхъ - in good houses, о синихъ мѫжихъ - about blue men)
Examples: Моꙗ́ книга ѥстъ на столѣ́ (My book is on the table). Говори́мъ о на́шемъ до́мѣ (We are talking about our house). Они́ живѫ́тъ въ вели́цѣмъ гра́дѣ (They live in a big city). Дѣ́ти игра́ѭтъ на дворѣхъ (Children are playing in the yards).