The Estonian language has six locative cases, descended from the locative cases of Proto-Finnic. They can be classified according to a three-way contrast of entering, residing in, and exiting a state, with two sets of cases: inner and outer. SystemEnteringResiding inExiting Inner -sse "into" (illative) -s "in" (inessive) -st "from (inside)" (elative) Outer -le "(on)to" (allative) -l "on (top of) / at" (adessive) -lt "from (at/on)" (ablative) State -ks "into as" (translative) -na "as" (essive) -nt "from being as" (exessive)
For some nouns, there are two forms of the illative: the regular suffix -sse (e.g. ), added to the genitive stem, and an alternative, short form, which is either consists of a different suffix ( > ), lengthening (e.g. > , [ko:l] > [ko::li]), and/or another change in the word. The always regular -sse illative ending is a newer innovation, and can sometimes have a slightly different meaning than the old "short form" illative, the latter having the concrete locative meaning (e.g.: 'into the room'), and the former being used in other structures that require the illative ( 'concerning the room...').
See also Proto-Finnic locative system Finnish locative system
References Ariste, Paul. 1960. "Ekstsessiivist läänemere keeltes." In Emakeele Seltsi Aastaraamat, VI, pp. 145-161. Moseley, C. (1994). Colloquial Estonian: A Complete Language Course. London: Routledge. Oinas, Felix J (1966). Basic Course in Estonian. Bloomington: Indiana University. Estonian Language - Estonian Institute The Estonian Language Blog Eesti keele käsiraamat - Käändsõna
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