Structural vs. Inherent Case

Part I

Peter W. Smith

25th October 2019

Intro

Last week

Different ideas regarding case
Case marks nominal functions:

Subject = Nominative
Direct Object: Accusative
Indirect Object: Dative
Possessor: Genitive

But...

Exceptions

1. Ich
2. I
1. habe
2. have.1sg
1. den
2. the.m.acc
1. ganzen
2. entire
1. Tag
2. day
1. gearbeitet
2. worked.past

'I worked the whole day.'

1. Mir
2. me.dat
1. ist
2. be.3sg
1. kalt
2. cold

'I am cold.'

Positions for case

Advantages

Good predictive power for majority of English and German (and many others).
Case assigned to position: whatever is in Spec,TP = nominative

They (the mice) were chased by the owl.

The doctor is me.

Double Objects

Prediction: if an element moves, the expected case is not available.

I gave a book to him.

*I gave a book him.

I gave him a book.

*I gave to him a book.

But...

Sometimes the wrong case shows up unexpectedly, as above.
Thus, we need a way of handling these.
Idea: some case can be inherent.
This is effectively what Zaenen, Maling and Thráinsson propose.

Icelandic: Basic Facts

Morphology

Rich case distinctions.

Icleandic singular pronouns
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
nom	hann	hún	það
acc	hann	hana	það
dat	honum	henni	því
gen	hans	hennar	þess

Syntax

It is in general an SVO language.

1. Ég
2. I
1. hafði
2. had
1. séð
2. seen
1. hana
2. her.acc

'I had seen her.'

Like various other Germanic languages, it shows V2.

V2

1. Ólafur
2. Olaf.nom
1. fann
2. found
1. peysuna
2. sweater.acc
1. sína
2. his.refl
1. í
2. in
1. skúffunni
2. the.drawer.dat

'Olaf found his sweater in the drawer.'

Peysuna sína fann Ólafur í skúffunni

*Peysuna sína Ólafur fann í skúffunni.

Í skúffunni fann Ólafur peysuna sína

Curious Cases

Sometimes the subject is not nominative.

1. Henni
2. her.dat
1. hefur
2. has
1. alltaf
2. always
1. þótt
2. thought
1. Ólafur
2. Olaf.nom
1. leiðinlegur
2. boring.nom

'She has always found Olaf boring.'

And the case of the object can change too.

Inherent object case

1. Ég
2. I
1. hjálpaði
2. helped
1. honum
2. him.dat

'I helped him.'

1. Ég
2. I
1. mun
2. will
1. sakna
2. miss
1. hans
2. him.gen

'I will miss him.'

Case retention in passive

Note that these cases are retained in passives.

1. þeim
2. they.dat
1. var
2. was
1. hjalpað
2. helped

'They were helped.'

1. Hennar
2. her.gen
1. var
2. was
1. saknað
2. missed

'She was missed.'

Question

If nominative is assigned to Spec,TP, why are dative and genitive retained under passivisation?
Two options:

The objects are topics, not subjects, and so not in Spec,TP.
⇒ the above no longer an issue.
They are genuine subjects and do lie in Spec,TP.
⇒ the above is a genuine issue.

Subjecthood in Icelandic

Raising to object

1. Guðrún
2. Gudrun.nom
1. saknar
2. misses
1. Haraldar
2. Harold.gen

'Gudrun misses Harold.'

1. Ég
2. I
1. taldi
2. believed
1. Guðrúnnu
2. Gudrun.acc
1. í
2. in
1. barnaskap
2. foolishness
1. mínum
2. my
1. sakna
2. to-miss
1. Haraldar
2. Harold.gen

'In my foolishness I believed Gudrun to miss Harold.'

Raising to obejct

1. Haraldar
2. Harold.gen
1. saknar
2. misses
1. Guðrún
2. Gudrun

'Gudrun misses Harold.'

1. *Ég
2. I
1. taldi
2. believed
1. Haraldur
2. Harold
1. sakna
2. missed
1. Guðrún
2. Gudrun

intended: 'I believed Gudrun to miss Harold.'

Whilst subjects can, objects cannot.

Reflexivisation

Only subjects can be the antecedent of sinni.

1. Sigga
2. Sigga.nom
1. barði
2. hit
1. mig
2. me.acc
1. með
2. with
1. dúkkunni
2. doll.dat
1. sinni/*hennar
2. her

'Sigga hit me with her doll.'

Reflexivisation

Objects cannot be the antecedent of sinni.

1. Ég
2. I
1. barði
2. hit
1. Siggu
2. Siggu.acc
1. með
2. with
1. dúkkunni
2. doll
1. hennar/*sinni
2. her

'I hit Siggu with her doll.'

Topicalisation

In direct questions the subject must immediately follow the verb.

1. Hafði
2. had
1. Sigga
2. Sigga.nom
1. aldrei
2. never
1. hjalpað
2. helped
1. Haraldi?
2. Harold

'Has Sigga ever helped Harold?'

1. *Hafði
2. had
1. Haraldi
2. .dat
1. Sigga
2. Sigga
1. aldrei
2. never
1. hjalpað?
2. helped

Postposing

A subject can be postposed after the verb and replaced with það.
If so, then an object cannot immediately follow the verb.

1. það
2. there
1. hefur
2. has
1. þjófur
2. a-thief.nom
1. stolið
2. stolen
1. hjólnu
2. bicycle.dat
1. mínu
2. mine.dat

'A thief has stolen my bicycle.'

Postposing

1. *það
2. there
1. hefur
2. has
1. hjóli
2. a-bicycle.dat
1. þjófurinn
2. the-thief.nom
1. stolið
2. stolen

intended: 'A thief has stolen my bicycle.'

Subject Ellipsis

The subject of a coordinated clause can be deleted if coreferential with the subject of the other conjoined clause.

1. þeir
2. they.nom
1. fluttu
2. moved
1. líkið
2. the-corpse
1. og
2. and
1. (þeir)
2. they
1. grófu
2. buried
1. það
2. it

'They moved the corpse and they buried it.'

Subject Ellipsis

1. Likið
2. the-corpse
1. hræddi
2. scared
1. þá
2. them
1. og
2. and
1. *(þeir)
2. they
1. grófu
2. buried
1. það
2. it

intended: 'the corpse scared them and they buried it.'

Infinitive Complements

Only subjects can be the target of EQUI-NP deletion.

1. Ég
2. I
1. vonast
2. hope
1. til
2. for
1. að
2. to
1. __
2. __
1. fara
2. go
1. heim
2. home

'I hope to go home.'

Non-nominatives and subject properties

Raising to Object

1. Ég
2. I
1. tel
2. believe
1. henni
2. her.dat
1. hafa
2. to-have
1. alltaf
2. always
1. þótt
2. thought
1. Ólafur
2. Olaf.nom
1. leiðinlegur
2. boring.nom

'I believe she always thought Olaf was boring.'

Reflexivisation

1. Henni
2. her.dat
1. þykir
2. thinks
1. bróðir
2. brother.nom
1. sinn/*hennar
2. her
1. leiðinlegur
2. boring

'She thinks her brother is boring.'

Topicalisation

1. Hefur
2. has
1. henni
2. she.dat
1. alltaf
2. always
1. þótt
2. thought
1. Ólafur
2. Olaf.nom
1. leiðinlegur
2. boring.nom

'Has she always thought Olaf boring?'

Postposing

1. það
2. there
1. hefur
2. has
1. einhverjum
2. someone.dat
1. þott
2. thought
1. Ólafur
2. Olaf.nom
1. leiðinlegur
2. boring.nom

Suject Ellipsis

1. Hann
2. he.nom
1. segist
2. says-self
1. vera
2. to-be
1. duglegur,
2. diligent
1. en
2. but
1. __
2. __.dat
1. finnst
2. finds
1. verkefnið
2. the-homework
1. of
2. too
1. þungt
2. hard

'He says he is dilligent but finds the homework too hard.'

Infinitive Complements

1. Mig
2. I.acc
1. vantar
2. lacks
1. peninga
2. money.acc

'I lack money.'

1. Ég
2. I
1. vonast
2. hope
1. til
2. for
1. __
2. __
1. að
2. for
1. vanta
2. to.lack
1. ekki
2. not
1. peninga
2. money

'I hope not to lack money.'

Oblique case under passivisation

English passive subjects

In English, the passive subject is really a true subject.
Passive subjects control verbal agreement

The mice were chased by the owl.

The mouse was chased by the owl.

Passive subjects also show subject properties in Icelandic, even when non-nominative.

Passives: Raising

1. Ég
2. I
1. tel
2. believe
1. þeim
2. them.dat
1. hafa
2. to-have
1. verið
2. been
1. hjálpað
2. helped
1. i
2. in
1. prófinu
2. the-exam

'I believe them to have been helped in the exam.'

Passives: Reflexivisation

1. Honum
2. he.dat
1. var
2. was
1. oft
2. often
1. hjalpað
2. helped
1. af
2. by
1. foreldrum
2. parents
1. sínum/*hans
2. his

'He was often helped by his parents.'

Passives: Inversion

1. Var
2. was
1. honum
2. he.dat
1. aldrei
2. never
1. hjalpað
2. helped
1. af
2. by
1. foreldrum
2. parents
1. sínum
2. his

'Was he ever helped by his parents?'

Passives: Subject Ellipsis

1. Hann
2. he.nom
1. segist
2. says-self
1. vera
2. to-be
1. saklus
2. innocent
1. en
2. but
1. __
2. __
1. hefur
2. has
1. vist
2. apparently
1. verið
2. been
1. hjalpað
2. helped
1. í
2. on
1. prófinu
2. the-exam

'He says that he is innocent but he has apparently been jelped on the exam.'

Passive: Infinitive Complements

1. Ég
2. I
1. vonast
2. hope
1. til
2. for
1. __
2. __
1. að
2. to
1. verða
2. be
1. hjalpað
2. helped

'I hope to be helped.'

Interim Conclusion

So far...

Subject is not always nominative.
Nominative is usually assigned to subjects.
Nominative will be assigned elsewhere if another case is assigned to the subject.

Open Questions

What does this mean for a configurational case view?
Can we maintain the proposal that nominative is assigned to Spec,TP?
Preview: Zaenen, Maling & Thráinsson argue we should give this up, and assign case to gramamtical functions.