# Accusative absolute

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{{Short description|Grammatical construction}}
The '''accusative absolute''' is a [grammatical construction](/source/grammar) found in some languages.  It is an [absolute construction](/source/absolute_construction) found in the [accusative case](/source/accusative_case).

==Greek==
In [ancient Greek](/source/ancient_Greek), the accusative case is used [adverb](/source/adverb)ially with [participle](/source/participle)s of [impersonal verb](/source/impersonal_verb)s, similarly to the [genitive absolute](/source/genitive_absolute).<ref>Balme, Maurice and Gilbert Lawall. ''Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. pp 172.</ref> For example:

{{fs interlinear|lang=grc|indent=2
|συνδόξαν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ γαμεῖ τὴν Κυαξάρου θυγατέρα
|{{grc-transl|συνδόξαν}} {{grc-transl|τῷ}} {{grc-transl|πατρὶ}} {{grc-transl|καὶ}} {{grc-transl|τῇ}} {{grc-transl|μητρὶ}} {{grc-transl|γαμεῖ}} {{grc-transl|τὴν}} {{grc-transl|Κυαξάρου}} {{grc-transl|θυγατέρα}}
|{seeming good-ACC} the-MASC.DAT.SG father-DAT and the-FEM.DAT.SG mother-DAT marries the-FEM.ACC.SG Cyaxares-GEN daughter-ACC
|"It seeming good to his father and mother, he marries the daughter of Cyaxares." ([Xenophon](/source/Xenophon), ''[Cyropaedia](/source/Cyropaedia)'' 8.5.28)}}

==German==
In [German](/source/German_language), a noun phrase can be put in the accusative to indicate that the sentence's subject has the property it describes.<ref>Duden 4, ''Die Grammatik'', 5th edition (1995), p. 624</ref> For example:

{{interlinear|lang=de|indent=2
|Neben ihm saß der dünnhaarige Pianist, den Kopf im Nacken, und lauschte.
|{next to} him sat the thin-haired pianist the-MASC.ACC.SG head {in the} neck and listened
|"The thin-haired pianist, his head back ({{lit}} his head in his neck), sat next to him and listened."}}

==Latin==
The accusative absolute is sometimes found in place of the [ablative absolute](/source/Latin_grammar) in the [Latin](/source/Latin) of [Late Antiquity](/source/Late_Antiquity) as, for example, in the writings of [Gregory of Tours](/source/Gregory_of_Tours) and [Jordanes](/source/Jordanes). This likely arose when the pronunciations of the ablative and accusative singulars merged, since the final ''-m'' of the accusative singular was no longer pronounced, having been fading since the Classical era. The accusative absolute is also found with plural nouns whose ablative and accusative are not similar in pronunciation.

==Sources==
<references/>

Category:Grammar
Category:Greek grammar
Category:German grammar

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Accusative absolute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusative_absolute) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusative_absolute?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.