The noun. The Category of Case.
The definition of the category. Different views on the number of cases (the theory of positional cases, the theory of prepositional cases, the theory of limited number of cases, the theory of no cases). The -'S sign. Meanings conveyed by it. Subjective possessive, objective possessive, absolute possessive, group possessive, etc.
Case is the morphological category of the noun manifested in the forms of noun declensions & showing their relations of the nounal referent to other objects & phenomena.
There are several theories.
1) The theory of positional cases (Mansfield, Deutschbein).
They follow the pac of classical grammar & distinguish nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative.
Since there are no special marks to distinguish them in Eng the cases are differentiated by the functional position of the noun in the sentence.
E.g. nominative case corresponds with the subject, accusative – direct object, dative – indirect object, vocative – address.
2) The theory of prepositional cases (Curme).
They treat the combinations of nouns with different prepositions as analytical forms of the case.
Nominative – no prep.
Dative – to, for.
Genitive – of.
Instrumental – with, by.
Accusative – no prep.
They see the system of cases in Eng as comprising the regular inflectional case. They also comprise some elements of positional theory.
3) The theory of limited number of cases. (Henry Sweet, Otto Jesperson)
This theory is based on the oppositional presentation of the category. The category of case is expressed by the opposition of 2 forms – the genitive (the strong member of the opposition marked by the ‘s) & the common case (the weak unmarked member of the opposition).
The category of cases is realized in full in animate nouns & restrictedly in inanimate nouns.
4) The theory of no cases (Vorontzova, Muhin).
Acc to this theory the category of case don’t exist in modern Eng.
The main arguments are the following:
1. the postpositional element ‘s is not used only with nouns but also with the units larger than a single word, i.e. word-combinations & even sentences.
E.g. His doctor Mary’s arrival.
2. it may be used with no noun t all but with the pronoun.
E.g. Somebody else’s car.
3. the same meaning of possession is rendered in Eng by prepositional of-phrases.
E.g. the chairman’s decision – the decision of the chairman.
…
Noun + ‘s is not a case form but a purely syntactical construction & there is no longer the morphological cat of case in Eng.
One of the additional argument is the following – the general case of noun in the plural is undistinguishable by ear from its possessive case form & it is homonymous to its ‘s.
E.g. boy – boys – boy’s
Semantic types of possessive case
The possessive case of the noun is a rather polysemantic phenomenon. Within the general semantics of possessiveness the following subtypes of the case can be distinguished.
the Genitive of possessor: Tom’s toy.
the Genitive of the whole: Tom’s hand.
the Genitive of agent: Tom’s actions.
the Genitive of patient: the hostage’s release.
the Genitive of destination: women’s underwear.
the Genitive of qualification: a girl’s voice.
the Genitive of comparison: a cock’s self-confidence.
the Adverbial Genitive: yesterday’s talks.
the Genitive of quantity: a three mile’s distance from here.
As a separate type of genitive the so-called absolute genitive is distinguished when noun in the genitive case is used independently not …
E.g. at the baker’s, at the dentist’s.
These are the cases of lexicalized ellipsis in word-combinations: at the baker’s shop, at the dentist’s place.
Group possessive: Mary & John’s house, three mile’s distance.