Glottopedia - User contributions [en]

Case

2007-07-06T16:44:26Z

Parvomagnus: and consistency!

In [[morphosyntax]], '''case''' is a [[grammatical category system]] marked on [[noun phrase]]s to indicate the syntactic-semantic relationship between the noun phrases and other elements in the clause. Case categories are marked by [[affix]]es or occasionally by other morphological means (such as [[stem change]]s), mostly on the [[head]] noun of the noun phrase.

::*''“Case: an inflectional [[dimension]] of nouns that serves to code the noun phrase's semantic role.”'' (Haspelmath 2002:267)

=== Examples ===

Frequently encountered cases are the [[genitive case]] for the adnominal possessor (e.g. English ''the girl’'''s''' book''), the [[accusative case]] for the direct object (e.g. Latin ''video Ciceron-em'' [I.see Cicero-ACC]), and the [[dative case]] for the recipient (e.g. Japanese ''watashi-wa Taro-ni hon-o age-ta'' [I-TOP Taro-DAT book-ACC give-PAST] ‘I gave Taro a book.’).

===Comments===

::*''“There is among many scholars a strong feeling that the term [''case''] should be used only where clear case morphemes are discoverable in the inflection of nouns.”'' (Fillmore 1968:19)

=== Subtypes ===
*[[grammatical cases]] vs. [[concrete cases]]
*[[spatial cases]]
*[[structural cases]] vs. [[inherent cases]] vs. [[lexical cases]]

===Subcategories===
*[[nominative case]]
*[[accusative case]]
*[[ergative case]]
*[[absolutive case]]
*[[genitive case]]
*[[dative case]]
*[[instrumental case]]
*[[comitative case]]
*[[locative case]]
*[[allative case]]
*[[ablative case]]

=== Polysemy ===

The term ''case'' is also used
* for semantic roles -- see [[deep case]]
* for an abstract and often invisible/inaudible feature licensing the occurrence of noun phrases -- see [[abstract case]]
* as a general term for cases and adpositions --- see [[flag]]

=== Origin ===

The term ''case'' goes back to the earliest Western grammatical works (Dionysius Thrax, perhaps Aristotle). In Latin, the term ''casus'' (literally 'falling') is found in Varro (?), evidently as a loan translation from Greek ''ptóòsis'' ‘falling’. According to Blake (2001:18), the metaphor "seems to have been of falling away from an assumed standard form". Fillmore (1968:6) translates it as ‘deviation’.

=== References ===
*[[Barry J. Blake|Blake, Barry J.]]. 2001. ''Case.'' 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*[[Charles J. Fillmore|Fillmore, Charles J]]. 1968. The case for case. In: Bach, Emmon & Harms, Robert T. (eds.) ''Universals in linguistic theory.'' New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1-88.
*{{:Haspelmath 2002}}

=== Other languages ===
*Czech [[pád]]
*German [[Kasus]]

{{dc}}
[[Category:Syntax]]
[[Category:Case|!]]

Case

2007-07-06T16:42:24Z

Parvomagnus: minor typo

In [[morphosyntax]], '''case''' is a [[grammatical category system]] marked on [[noun phrase]]s to indicate the syntactic-semantic relationship between the noun phrases and other elements in the clause. Case categories are marked by [[affix]]es or occasionally by other morphological means (such as [[stem change]]s), mostly on the [[head]] noun of the noun phrase.

::*''“Case: an inflectional [[dimension]] of nouns that serves to code the noun phrase's semantic role.”'' (Haspelmath 2002:267)

=== Examples ===

Frequently encountered cases are the [[genitive case]] for the adnominal possessor (e.g. English ''the girl’'''s''' book''), the [[accusative case]] for the direct object (e.g. Latin video ciceron-em [I.see Cicero-ACC]), and the [[dative case]] for the recipient (e.g. Japanese ''watashi-wa Taro-ni hon-o age-ta'' [I-TOP Taro-DAT book-ACC give-PAST] ‘I gave Taro a book.’).

===Comments===

::*''“There is among many scholars a strong feeling that the term [''case''] should be used only where clear case morphemes are discoverable in the inflection of nouns.”'' (Fillmore 1968:19)

=== Subtypes ===
*[[grammatical cases]] vs. [[concrete cases]]
*[[spatial cases]]
*[[structural cases]] vs. [[inherent cases]] vs. [[lexical cases]]

===Subcategories===
*[[nominative case]]
*[[accusative case]]
*[[ergative case]]
*[[absolutive case]]
*[[genitive case]]
*[[dative case]]
*[[instrumental case]]
*[[comitative case]]
*[[locative case]]
*[[allative case]]
*[[ablative case]]

=== Polysemy ===

The term ''case'' is also used
* for semantic roles -- see [[deep case]]
* for an abstract and often invisible/inaudible feature licensing the occurrence of noun phrases -- see [[abstract case]]
* as a general term for cases and adpositions --- see [[flag]]

=== Origin ===

The term ''case'' goes back to the earliest Western grammatical works (Dionysius Thrax, perhaps Aristotle). In Latin, the term ''casus'' (literally 'falling') is found in Varro (?), evidently as a loan translation from Greek ''ptóòsis'' ‘falling’. According to Blake (2001:18), the metaphor "seems to have been of falling away from an assumed standard form". Fillmore (1968:6) translates it as ‘deviation’.

=== References ===
*[[Barry J. Blake|Blake, Barry J.]]. 2001. ''Case.'' 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*[[Charles J. Fillmore|Fillmore, Charles J]]. 1968. The case for case. In: Bach, Emmon & Harms, Robert T. (eds.) ''Universals in linguistic theory.'' New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1-88.
*{{:Haspelmath 2002}}

=== Other languages ===
*Czech [[pád]]
*German [[Kasus]]

{{dc}}
[[Category:Syntax]]
[[Category:Case|!]]