Belarusian kept the seventh case that Russian lost. Браце, сынку, Пятрусю - the form you use when you address someone directly.
I can recognise vocative forms in songs and speech and use them when addressing family, friends and a пан or спадар.
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
Браце, дапамажы мне занесці гэта.
Brother, help me carry this in.
Сынку, не забудзься шапку.
Son, do not forget your hat.
Дзякуй вам, спадару Янку.
Thank you, Mr Janka.
Ой, рэчанька, куды ты бяжыш?
Oh, little river, where are you running to?
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
The six cases you have learned are the working set. There is a seventh, used only for addressing someone, and Belarusian still has it as a living form where Russian has kept only fossils (Боже, отче).
| Ending | Applies to | Nominative → vocative |
|---|---|---|
| -е | hard-stem masculines | брат → браце, Іван → Іване, сусед → суседзе |
| -а (after the alternation к → ч, г → ж, х → ш) | stems in г, к, х other than diminutives, mostly old and solemn words | чалавек → чалавеча, Бог → Божа |
| -у | diminutives in -ок / -ак | сынок → сынку, дружок → дружку |
| -ю | soft-stem masculines | Пятрусь → Пятрусю, конь → коню |
| -а / -о | feminines | сястра → сястро, маці → маці |
Note браце: the vocative changes the stem consonant, but not the way the locative does. The locative gives к → ц, г → з (у руцэ, у кнізе); the vocative keeps the older alternation - т → ц (брат - браце), к → ч (чалавек - чалавеча, not чалавеке or чалавеце), г → ж (Бог - Божа), х → ш - and after ч, ж, ш the ending is -а, not -е.
In everyday speech the nominative is used for address without any loss of politeness: Ганна, хадзі сюды! The vocative is a stylistic choice - warmer, more traditional, more literary. Nobody will think you rude for not using it; they will notice, in a good way, when you do.
The name Спадар and its vocative спадару are worth knowing: this is the revived Belarusian equivalent of Mr, used deliberately by people who want a form of address that is neither the Soviet таварыш nor the Russian господин.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses B2 an
ÜbungsaufgabenTypical errors: forgetting that the vocative changes the stem (чалавеча, not чалавеке or чалавеце), and treating the vocative as obligatory when the nominative is normal in speech.
Браце, дапамажы мне занесці гэта.
Brother, help me carry this in.
<em>Брат</em> becomes <em>браце</em>, with the т softened by the -е ending.
Сынку, не забудзься шапку.
Son, do not forget your hat.
Diminutives in -к take -у: <em>сынок</em> gives <em>сынку</em>.
Дзякуй вам, спадару Янку.
Thank you, Mr Janka.
Formal address: both <em>спадар</em> and the name take the vocative.
Ой, рэчанька, куды ты бяжыш?
Oh, little river, where are you running to?
The line a folk song would use - the vocative lives longest in songs.
Ганна, хадзі сюды на хвілінку.
Hanna, come here for a minute.
Everyday address in the nominative - correct and normal, no vocative needed.
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