33.2004, Review: Pragmatics; Semantics: Kagain (2020)
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Subject: 33.2004, Review: Pragmatics; Semantics: Kagain (2020)
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Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2022 17:02:45
From: Francesca Dell'Oro [francesca.delloro at unine.ch]
Subject: The Semantics of Case
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36794957
Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-1764.html
AUTHOR: Olga Kagan
TITLE: The Semantics of Case
SERIES TITLE: Key Topics in Semantics and Pragmatics
PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press
YEAR: 2020
REVIEWER: Francesca Dell'Oro, University of Neuchâtel
SUMMARY
“The semantics of case”, by Olga Kagan, is a handy monograph belonging to the
series “Key topics in semantics and pragmatics” published by Cambridge
University Press. This series has been conceived with the challenging aim of
discussing relevant issues in semantic and pragmatic theory by providing
accessible content. The idea is that each book in the series should be
suitable for use in courses and seminars. It goes without saying that the
double task of delving into cutting-edge research issues, while keeping a
reader-friendly approach, is a daunting undertaking.
“The semantics of case” deals with the crucial question of the interrelations
between case and meaning, by providing readers with an in-depth and critical
overview of the main issues at stake. Notably, while the author adopts the
generative approach and mainly discusses the relevant literature based on it,
other approaches are also taken into account. “Case” is defined as “the
marking of the nominal that reflects its relation to other elements in the
sentence” (p. 8). Interestingly, Kagan (henceforth K.) points out that even
within the minimalist approach some scholars have suggested that “a case
feature may be (construed as) semantic/interpretable” (p. 9). However, she has
made the important decision not to tackle the question of whether case is
primary and the semantics secondary or vice versa, on the grounds that this is
a matter subject to theory-internal considerations.
The theme of the interrelations between case and meaning is dealt with from a
crosslinguistic perspective, with a focus on languages and families of which
the author often has first-hand knowledge. K. has chosen to structure the book
in a logical and didactic way, starting from more basic concepts—such as the
dative case and the spatial cases—and progressing to more complex ones—such as
case alternations and the “predicate case”. Each chapter systematically draws
on the contents of the previous one and this creates a strong feeling of
cohesion.
In the introduction K. observes that “in many instances, case-checking depends
on the purely syntactic configuration […] rather than on semantic
considerations” (p. 1). She gives as an example the fact that in
nominative-accusative languages nominative marks subjecthood and can be
associated with several theta-roles, including agents, experiencers,
instruments, and themes. However, in some situations, such as those involving
case alternation, case-marking is clearly interrelated with semantics and
pragmatics. For example, case-marking can correlate with aspect. In Finnish
accusative-marking of an object licences a bounded interpretation of the
sentence, while partitive-marking of the same object licences an unbounded or
progressive reading. Compare (1) with (2), cited on page 2:
(1) Join veden.
drank.1sg water.acc
‘I drank the water.’
(2) Join vettä.
drank.1sg water.part
‘I drank some water.’ or ‘I was drinking water.’
With this example and many others, the author raises a fair number of
questions such as that of the direct or mediated nature of the relationship
between case and semantics. K. then outlines fundamental distinctions between
case types, by introducing readers to fundamental notions and oppositions,
such as morpho-syntactic case (observable in case languages such as Russian)
vs abstract case (i.e., not observable, not morphologically realised case such
as in English); purely morphological case (based only on its
morpho-phonological form) vs morpho-syntactic case (based not only on its
morpho-phonological form, but also on its distribution and/or function). Also
introduced are the notions of “case system”, “morpho-syntactic alignment”,
“split-ergativity”, “case hierarchy”, and finally the—not
uncontroversial—distinctions between “structural case” (i.e., purely
morpho-syntactic such as nominative), “inherent case” (i.e., related to the
assignment of a thematic role), “lexical case” (an idiosyncratic, lexically
selected case which can be opposed to a restricted definition of “inherent”),
and “semantic case” (drawing on Butt and King [2005], semantic case shows the
properties of a structural case, but is also related to certain semantic
notions, such as the partitive in Finnish, which is associated with atelicity
and indefiniteness).
Chapters 2 and 3 focus on cases the presence of which is related to theta-role
assignment. Chapter 2 deals with the dative case. After having presented the
thematic roles and the additional environments—such as modal predicates or
possessor datives—in which dative case can be found, K. outlines some specific
analyses. Chapter 3 focuses on case and spatial relations, offering a
description of complex spatial case systems in languages such as Tabasaran,
Tsez, and Bezhta from the Nakh-Daghestanian family. An outline of non-spatial
uses of spatial cases follows, focused on metaphorical extension and reduced
and demoted agentivity. K. then discusses the challenges involved in the
formal analysis of spatial cases, as these are clearly associated with
semantic content which, moreover, is not independently contributed by the
predicate. The chapter concludes with an outline of the interaction of spatial
cases and prepositions.
In Chapters 4, 5, and 6 K. discusses different types of object case
alternations. Chapter 4 is devoted to the interaction of case and aspect. The
author outlines the distribution of accusative and partitive objects in the
Finnic languages, then deals with accusative adjuncts from a cross-linguistic
perspective and with the complements of prepositions in some Indo-European
languages. Chapter 5 is dedicated to (asymmetric) Differential Object Marking
(henceforth DOM) and partially also to Differential Subject Marking. K. tries
to elucidate the possible reasoning behind DOM and whether there is a direct
rather than indirect influence of the verb. She then provides a critical
overview of some cross-linguistic analyses. In Chapter 6 the focus is on the
genitive/accusative alternation observed in the Balto-Slavic languages. The
author deals with the Genitive of Negation, the Intensional Genitive, and the
Partitive Genitive. K. discusses the possibility of giving them a unified
account. Interestingly, DOM and the genitive/accusative alternation (seen as
an instance of symmetric differential marking) are assimilated with respect to
the property of individuation, to which both phenomena are sensitive.
Chapter 7 is dedicated to the “predicate case”. Here K. focuses on nominal
predicates, for which case-marking depends on semantic notions, such as
change, temporariness, and permanence. She deals with instrumental predicates
in Slavic, with the essive case in the Uralic languages, and, finally, with
the translative case in Finno-Ugric languages.
The final chapter reports the author’s generalisations and conclusions. She
finds that case can be related to the following three semantic areas: 1)
thematic roles and related concepts; 2) individuation; and 3) aspect and
tense. Each case the author has dealt with correlates with semantic features.
For example, accusative correlates with boundedness, goalhood, and
individuation (in DOM), and the genitive with low individuation, property
type, source, etc. K. emphasises that the relation that holds between case and
meaning is often indirect and recalls that defining its nature is in many
instances subject to theory-internal considerations. Within the minimalist
framework the author recognises four types of contributors: 1) a lexical head,
typically V or P; 2) a functional head; 3) the (case-marked) DP; and 4) the
case-marker itself.
Each chapter ends with a further reading section. A useful glossary is
available at the end of the book.
EVALUATION
The book succeeds in giving a manageable, but in-depth and critical overview
of the discussion about case-assignment and its interrelations with meaning.
Notably, the content is presented in a crystal-clear style and remains for the
most part accessible to people with no specific background in formal
approaches to linguistics. Both the book itself and each chapter within it are
structured along a didactic principle of growing complexity, which enables
readers to become familiar with the simplest aspects before reading about more
complex matters. It is also a very stimulating read, as, after having
discussed the pros and cons of the hypotheses suggested in the scholarly
literature, the author also clearly shows which issues still remain without an
answer.
It goes without saying that the book does not aim to be exhaustive and—as is
to be expected—generative and formal approaches are by far better represented
than other ones. As the principles of the reasoning are always explicitly
stated, I find that the book can be read with profit by scholars working in
very different frameworks. While this book has many merits, there are some
aspects which could be improved. For example, the themes of the “Discussion”
sections seem to have been selected and the sections introduced in a somewhat
arbitrary way. From a didactic perspective a more structured insertion of
these sections might be helpful. I am also not convinced about the author’s
choice not to distinguish between lexical or pre-modal values (cf. ex. 7c, p.
45)—for the distinction between pre-modal and modal, see van der Auwera and
Plungian 1998. In fact, there could be differences in the syntactic structures
involved. For instance, in Korean there is no double nominative construction
in the second case: cf. (3) Ku-nun (NOM) cha-ka (NOM) philyohata ‘He needs a
car’ vs (4) Ku-nun (NOM) cha-rul (ACC) saya hanta ‘He needs to buy a car’.
However, these are small details which do not affect the overall excellent
quality of this book.
REFERENCES
Butt, Miriam and Tracy Holloway King. 2005. The status of case. In Veneeta
Dayal and Anoop Mahajan, eds., Clause structure in South Asian languages.
Berlin: Springer, 153-198.
van der Auwera, Johan, & Plungian, Vladimir A. 1998. Modality’s Semantic Map.
Linguistic Typology 2(1), 79-124. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1515/lity.1998.2.1.79
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Francesca Dell’Oro is Assistant Professor at the University of Neuchâtel and
an Associate Fellow of CHS – Harvard University. She leads the WoPoss project
on modality in Latin in a diachronic perspective (https://woposs.unine.ch).
She is particularly interested in the theory of modality and in the emergence
of modal constructions. She is also interested in the didactics of ancient
languages and innovative teaching methods (on which she has recently edited
the volume Méthodes et modèles de l'apprentissage des langues anciennes,
vivantes et construites, hier et aujourd'hui:
https://www.cahiers-clsl.ch/issue/view/79).
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