On the Distinction between Syntactic and Semantic case (original) (raw)

1992, On the Distinction between Syntactic and Semantic case

This thesis examines the distinction between syntactic case and semantic case, part of a broader distinction between lexical and functional elements. Several tests, involving predication, nominalization, and iteration are proposed for determining the semantic status of particular case functions. The results of these tests show that only subject and direct object markers are syntactic, all other cases being semantic. Further, semantic cases behave like adpositions, and should therefore be placed in the same syntactic category as them. This enables one to defend a structural account of restrictions on predication. The tests also indicate that English has underlying semantic cases, which are related, but not identical, to theta roles. The small number of syntactic cases is consistent with my claim that their content consists of one binary feature value, while the content of semantic cases is not necessarily so limited.