nominative (adj./n.) (nom, NOM)

In languages which express GRAMMATICAL relationships by means of INFLECTIONS, this term refers to the FORM taken by a NOUN PHRASE (often a single noun or PRONOUN) when it is the SUBJECT of a VERB. The ‘nominative case’ (‘the nominative’) is usually the first form to be listed in a grammatical PARADIGM, or in a dictionary, and is often the UNMARKED form, e.g. in Latin, homo (‘man’) is nominative singular (cf. hominem, hominis, etc.). The term is also used in GENERATIVE grammar, to refer to the CASE assigned to the subject NP in a FINITE CLAUSE. In the phrase nominative island condition, it refers to a type of CONSTRAINT on the freedom of MOVEMENT of items occurring inside a clause containing a nominative-marked subject. In GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY, NOM CASE is assigned to the NP GOVERNED by I with AGR, i.e. to the subject in a finite clause.