> Just what is the dative, in *pure* terms?
The dative is a case found in various IE languages (German, Latin, Greek,
Sanskrit) with various functions, and believed to be part of the morphology
of the PIE noun & pronoun.
In "pure" terms it means indirect involvement of the noun/pronoun - so not
subject and not object. I tried classifying the uses, but found they blur
so much into one another it is not really possible. Here are some typical
uses in all the languages I mentioned:
(a) giving and speaking [me-dative] = "to me"
(b) advantage [me-dative] = "for me". The obvious example is buying
[object] for me, making [object] for me etc. cf The English legal
expression cui bono - to whose benefit?
(c) disadvantage e.g. getting in the way, taking [object] from
(d) possession: There is a house [me-dative] = I have a house
(e) point of view: [me-dative] eyes hurt
(f) emotion What [me-dative] is Celsus doing? Shows emotional
involvement.
(g) reference: shows in whose eyes the statement is true. e.g.
[me-dative] great, but [you-dative] ugly.
(h) agent: differently used in the different languages. In Latin
mostly, but not only, with past participles; obligatory with gerunds.
(i) local meaning - place to which.
(j) verbs which take a direct object in English sometimes cannot take a
direct object in other languages, so a dative shows the involvement of the
other person (e.g. trusting, following, helping etc: different verbs in
different languages)
And many many more.... but I hope that shows you the sort of flavour of a
true dative.
Peter