For a possessive or an ablative case:—
(a) When the noun is made definite by the article nỳ, the governing word (whether noun or verb) takes the suffixed pronoun -ny (or n'); as, trànon' nỳ sakaìza, 'house of the friend'. Or, if the governing word end in -na, -ka, or tra, the final -a is changed into -y ; as, fàntatry nỳ òlona, 'known by the people'.
(b) When the noun is not made definite by the article, either m or n (regardable as contracted forms of the suffix pronoun -ny) is inserted; as, hàlam-bahoàka, 'hated by (the) people'; or, if the governing word end in -na, -ka, or -tra, a contraction occurs with some euphonic change among the consonants. [See Euphonic changes among consonants.]
For a vocative case:—the omission of the article; as, Rainaỳ izaỳ àny an-dànitra, 'Our Father who (art) in heaven'; or, the use of rỳ (rày, or rèy) before the vocative case, or ò after it.
Special uses of the Nominative and Accusative Cases.
The nominative is often used absolutely, at the beginning of a sentence, where we might say 'as to' or 'in reference to'.
The accusative, besides indicating the object, may be (adverbial) used as an adverb of time or of place; (instrumental) used of an instrument, as namèly sàbatra anào ìzy, 'he struck you (with) a sword'; (limiting) used to limit the meaning of an adjective or a verb (which verb may be in any of the three voices). This last is a very common use of the accusative case.
