4 - Distribution of case marking

Summary

Introduction

This chapter describes the distribution of case marking within the sentence. The order of presentation is clause level (4.2), phrase level (4.3) and then word level (4.4). The distribution of case marking in subordinate clauses is treated in the final section 4.5.

Within the clause

In the clause case marks the relationship of various complements and adjuncts to the predicate. These complements and adjuncts are usually realised by noun phrases or adverb phrases, and the predicate is usually a verb. This function of case is the basis for the central definition of case given at the beginning of chapter 1, and numerous examples of this function are to be found throughout the text and do not therefore need further illustration here. However, as noted in section 1.2.1, case marking may also be found on dependents within a noun phrase or on words, mostly nouns and adjectives, in predicative function.

In a construction such as Virgil's vēnit summa diēs ‘The last day came’ the nominative case on diēs ‘day’ indicates that it bears the subject relation to the verb vēnit and this usage fits our central definition. However, the nominative on the adjective summa ‘highest’ does not indicate that summa is subject, but that it is a modifier of the subject. This usage is somewhat marginal to our central definition, since the nominative here is merely specifying that summa is a dependent of diēs without specifying a type of relation between summa and diēs (see also section 4.3).