Grammatical case vs. semantic case

The case marking of the nouns in (1) is determined by the Grammatical Relations which the NPs bear in the clause. Case affixes of this type are sometimes referred to as GRAMMATICAL CASE markers, to distinguish them from SEMANTIC CASE markers, which are determined on the basis of semantic roles.

Grammatical cases are normally used only for TERM relations (SUBJ, OBJ, OBJ₂). A case form that is used to mark direct objects (like Malay alam–ye in examples (1c), (1g), and (1h)) is traditionally referred to as the ACCUSATIVE case. A case form like Malayalam-kkə(examples(1f), (1g), (1h)) that is used for “indirect objects,” i.e. recipient secondary objects, is traditionally referred to as the DATIVE case. A case form that is used for subjects is normally called the NOMINATIVE case; thus we could say that the nominative case is unmarked in Malayalam, because no suffix is added to the subject.

Malayalam also has semantic case markers; some examples are given in the following sentences:

Semantic cases are normally used for oblique arguments (and perhaps some adjuncts). If a special case marker is used for possessors (like Malayalam–inte in (2a)), it is normally called the GENITIVE. If a special case marker is used for locations (like Malayalam-il in (2b)), it is often called the LOCATIVE. If a special case marker is used for instruments (like Malayalam-(y)aal in (2c)), it is normally called the INSTRUMENTAL. The Malayalam case suffixes are summarized in (3):¹

In addition to the use of semantic case, another common way of marking oblique arguments and adjuncts is through the use of prepositions or (as in Malayalam) POST-POSITIONS. Sometimes there are two different ways to indicate the same semantic role. For example, the instrument role is marked by semantic case in (4a), but by a post-position in (4b). The two sentences have the same meaning, but (4a) would be used primarily in formal speech, while (4b) would be preferred in informal speech (K. P. Mohanan, p. c.).

¹. Some morphophonemic alternations are omitted from the table in (3). Mohanan (1982) refers to a second dative case category, “dative 2,” which is also omitted here.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

العتبة العسكرية المقدسة تكرّم وفد العتبة العباسية المقدسة لمشاركته في تقديم الخدمات للزائرين

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تختتم مشاركتها في تقديم الخدمات لزائري مرقد الإمامين العسكريين (عليهما السلام)

وفد متحف الكفيل يطلع على الفنون التراثية والحرف الأصيلة في ورش مدينة أصفهان

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يواصل ترميم وثائق نادرة لحماية الذاكرة الوطنية

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Semantic roles and Grammatical Relations Conclusion

Arguments and semantic roles

Semantic roles and Grammatical Relations

Constituency

Identifying meaningful elements Summary

Identifying meaningful elements within words

Identifying meaningful elements Identifying word meanings

Consequences of modifying Gunlogsons 2001 model

A case study of the semantics of clear - Factivity revisited

A case study of the semantics of clear - The analysis

A case study of the semantics of clear - Vagueness

Adjective/adverb semantics and verb semantics