Lexicalization of case markers

[Nicholas Ostler]

Dear Kazuha

 From your name, you appear to be Japanese: have you considered the 
Japanese case-marker ga (nominative, perhaps originally genitive) which 
can occur as a sentence opener, to mean 'but'?

de, demo (historically derived from ni te (mo), of which the first 
element is a dative marker) also coocur as sentence openers, to mean 'but'.

All these presumably result when preposed nominalizations that head a 
full sentence are  reanalyzed as compound sentences with a co-ordinating 
conjunction. The case marker on the nominalization is reanalyzed as a 
conjunction. Subsequently, it becomes free-standing, with its preceding 
clause only implicit.

(It seems quite normal for conjunctions to become freestanding 
particles, e.g. quamquam in Latin, and (the equivalent) however in English.)

Regards

Nicholas

Kazuha Watanabe wrote:
> Dear all,
>
>   I was wondering if anyone know any languages where a case marker is
> lexicalized.   Thank you so much.
>
>
> Kazuha Watanabe
> Cornell University
> Department of Linguistics
>
>
>   

-- 
Nicholas Ostler 

Chairman, Foundation for Endangered Languages
Registered Charity: England and Wales 1070616
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nostler at chibcha.demon.co.uk
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