The accusative absolute is a grammatical construction

Grammar

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...

 found in some languages. It is an absolute construction

Absolute construction

In linguistics, an absolute construction is a grammatical construction involving a non-finite clause that is subordinate in form and modifies an entire sentence, but has no syntactic link to its main clause...

 found in the accusative case

Accusative case

The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...

.

Greek

In ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

, the accusative case is used adverb

Adverb

An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....

ially with participle

Participle

In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...

s of impersonal verb

Impersonal verb

In linguistics, an impersonal verb is a verb that cannot take a true subject, because it does not represent an action, occurrence, or state-of-being of any specific person, place, or thing...

s. It is similar in usage to the genitive absolute

Genitive absolute

In Ancient Greek grammar, the genitive absolute is a grammatical construction consisting of a participle and often a noun which are both in the genitive case, very similar to the ablative absolute in Latin...

. For example:

seeming good-acc	the-masc.dat.sg	father-dat	and	the-fem.dat.sg	mother-dat	marries	the-fem.acc.sg	Cyaxares-gen	daughter-acc
"It seeming good to his father and mother, he marries the daughter of Cyaxares." (Xenophon Xenophon Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates... , Cyropaedia 8.5.28)

German

In German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, a noun phrase can be put in the accusative to indicate that the subject of the sentence has the property described. For example:

											.
next to	him	sat	the	thin-haired	pianist	the-masc.acc.sg	head	in the	neck	and	listened
"The thin-haired pianist, his head hanging (lit. his head in his neck), sat next to him and listened."

Latin

The accusative absolute is sometimes found in place of the ablative absolute in the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 of Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...

 as, for example, in the writings of Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours

Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...

 and Jordanes

Jordanes

Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....

. This likely arose when the pronunciation of the ablative and accusative singulars merged, since the final -m of the accusative singular was no longer pronounced, even in the Classical era. But the accusative absolute is also found with plural nouns where the ablative and accusative are not similar in pronunciation.