The document discusses case systems in languages such as Australian Pitta-Pitta and Latin. It provides examples of how case is marked in these languages through suffixes added to nouns. In Pitta-Pitta, suffixes indicate the grammatical relationship of nouns to verbs and other nouns. In Latin, case is marked through suffixes for number, gender, and grammatical role. While English has lost most of its case system, it retains some forms like possessive 's and pronominal distinctions between nominative and oblique forms.
2. Example of Case System:
a set of affixes (almost always suffixes) that mark
the relations that NPs bear to their governors.
CASE SYSTEM occurs in Australian Language, Pitta-
Pitta.
Each case is represented by a single form.
There is one complication.
The subject of an intransitive verb is unmarked.
The subject of a transitive verb is marked by a suffix
–lu (the ergative case) that marks instruments.
3. CASE SUFFIXES SUFFIXES SENTENCES
Nominative -Ø The dog ran away (INTRANSITIVE
SUBJECT)
Ergative / -lu The man hit the dog with a stick
instrumental (TRANSITIVE SUBJECT and
instrumental)
Accusative -nha The dog bit the man (direct object)
Dative / pergressive -ku The dog is fond of the man, The dog
swam through the flood
Purposive / possesive -nga The woman’s dog went for the paper
locative -ina The dog swam in the creek
allative -inu The dog went to the creek
ablative -inya The dog name back from the creek
causal -la The dog hid from the policeman
4. The nominative is used for nouns in isolation and for
the subject of an intransitive verb.
It characteristically expresses the role of neutral
patient, including entities that ‘locomote’ (with ‘go’,
‘come’, etc).
These might seem to have agent subjects, but the
mover is also the moved and the activity does not
extend to an external entity.
karna karnta-ka
man go-past
The man went
5. The ergative marks the subject of a transitive
verb.
It expresses the role of agent.
It also encodes the role of instrument.
karna-lu pithi-ka piyawarli-nha parnkuparnku-lu
man-erg hit past dog-acc walking:stick-erg (insr)
The man hit the dog with a stick.
6. The accusative marks the direct object expressing
the characteristics role of affected patient.
karna-lu pithi-ka piyawarli-nha parnkuparnku-lu
man-erg hit past dog-acc walking:stick-erg (insr)
The man hit the dog with a stick.
7. The dative function of –ku is restricted.
It marks the complement:
yatha ‘to like’
tiwa ‘be jealous of’
wapa ‘to look for’
wantili ‘to wait for’
karna yatha-ya piyawarli-ku
man like-pres dog-dat
The man likes the dog.
8. The pergressive function:
‘through’
‘across’
‘along’
karna yurta-ka ngarraru-ku
man swam-past flood-dat (pergressive)
The man swam through the flood
9. Exampe of purposive:
karna karnta-ka kupi-nga
man go-past fish-purp
The man went for (to get) fish
Example of possesive:
karna-nga piyawarli pantyi-ya
man-purp dog ail-pres
The man’s dog is sick
10. It indicates location in general.
Adverbs are used to give specific orientation of one
entity in relation to another.
karna nhangka-y kunti-ina kukuina
man sit-pres house-loc behind
The man is (sitting) behind the house
11. It indicates destinations.
-inya ablative
It indicates ‘from’, i.e. source.
karna karnta-ka Mount Isa-inya Dajarra-inu
man go-past Mt Isa-abl Dajarra-allative
The man went from Mt Isa to Dajarra
12. It marks causes ‘sick from (drinking) whisky, and entities
that are to be avoided.
Example:
Bad spirits – not just bad whisky!
karna wilakana-ya yampi-la
man hide-pres m:in:law-causal
The man is hiding from (sc. to avoid) his mother-in-law
13. LATIN
Case System of Latin :
a.Suffixes express case
b.Number
c.Gender class
d.Irregularities, etc
15. Notes :
-The cases are distinguished on the basis of
differentiation in a single paradigm.
-The vocative is marked by a separate form only
in the second declension singular.
-There is SYNCRETISM (neutralisation) between
the nomative and vocative.
16. Nominative : marks the subject
Vocative : used to address someone
Accusative : marks direct object and the object
of some prepositions
Genitive : correspons to ‘s and of in English
Dative : marks indirect object of dare ‘to
give’ and the complement of a score
or so of verbs
Ablative : marks a number of distict roles
17. Adjective and determiners agree with their
head nouns in number, case and gender
The adjective used in the sentences below
decline like puella, servus, or bellum
according to the gender of the noun they
modify
18. Rex bonus dat unum servum puellae
(The good king gives one/a slave to the girl)
Regis servus iit ex Britaniā in Italiam
(The king’s slave went from Britain to Italy)
Illa puella manet in Italiā cum amicis
(That girl is staying in Italy with friends)
19. English, like the other Indo-European
languages, once had a case system like the
Latin. Old English had a case system almost
identical with that of modern German (the
system was almost identical not the forms,
although the forms were very similar to
those of German)
20. During the middle this period these were
lost (very careless) except for the sibilant
ending of the genitive (cognate with the –is
of Latin regins in the paradigms above) we
still have this, but it is not case maker
anymore. It is derivational affix that is
added to noun phrases to produce
possessive determiners.
21. The dog’s bone
The man down the street’s dog
The man over there’s dog
We write the genitive or possessive ‘s
with an apostrophe to distinguish it
from the plural –’we’ means educated
people over 35
22. With pronouns there is a two-way case
distinction: nominative versus oblique
(non-nominative). This distinction is made
suppletively, i.e. by using different stems.
Me supplies the oblique case of I, him of
he and so on
23. nominative oblique
First person singular I me
Third person singular he him
she her
it it
First person singular we us
Second person plural you you
Third person plural they them
24. In text book English the nominative
forms are used for subject and the
oblique forms for all other
functions. In real English the
nominative forms are used in
certain other constructions, eg:
between you and I.
