Instrumental case - Definition and Overview

In linguistics, the instrumental case indicates that a noun is the instrument or means by which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action. The noun may be either a physical object or an abstract concept.

For example, in this Latin sentence:

librum stylo scripsi.

the inflection of the noun indicates its instrumental role -- the nominative stylus changes to the ablative stylo. English, lacking an instrumental case, might use a preposition (usually with) to express the same meaning:

I wrote the book with a pen.

The instrumental case appears in Old English, Sanskrit, and the Balto-Slavic languages.

Sources

• Instrumental Case in Tamil language (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/tamilweb/book/chapter2/node24.html)
• The Instrumental Case in Russian language (http://www.du.edu/langlit/russian/instr.htm)
• What is instrumental case? (http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsInstrumentalCase.htm)
• Dictionary.com entry on instrumental case (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=instrumental%20case)
• Prepositions Governing the Instrumental Case in Russian (http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/language/prepins.html)