Grammatical case & concentric nuance

the grammatical case

in Latin:

in German:

in Russian:

in Estonian:

in Finnish:

in Hungarian:

Grammatical cases are notoriously tricky feats to master. Many of the world’s most difficult languages to learn are so because of their rich case systems that foreigners just cannot get their heads around.

The overall collective of grammatical cases in a language is understood as a “case system”. English doesn’t really have a case system. Although, if pushed, you could say that we have traces of three different noun cases: subjective, possessive, and objective. Subjectivity, however, reigns overwhelmingly supreme and the other two cases exist only in traces in Modern English. Old English, meanwhile, had a full case system.

As you can see from the graphic above, the German language / die deutsche Sprache has 4 cases. Polish / polski has 6. Hungarian / magyar nyelv / magyar has an intimidating 18 different noun cases, the subject of the joke.

The language of the world with the highest recorded number of cases is Tsez / Dido / Cez / Didoi / Tsezy / Tsuntin / цезйас мец / cezyas mec / Цез мец / tsez mets, a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the Russian region of Dagestan in Caucasia. It has been logged as having 64 cases!

WHAT ARE GRAMMATICAL CASES?

The term case in linguistics refers to a method of differentiating and categorising nouns, pronouns, adjectives, participles, and numerals according to the traditionally corresponding grammatical function they realise in a given sentence, phrase or clause. Grammatical case systems are essentially customs for categorising nouns and demarcating their functions in sentences. Nouns have different endings which you “click” on to the “stem” in order to “encase” it and enhance/modify its role in a sentence. The different case-enriched forms of a noun are its declensions (according to me – really it’s declension in the singular as a mass noun referring to the practice in general, but I recommend breaking it down).

To start with…

The standard case is known as the nominative. The nominative form is thus the standard, “raw”, “organic” form a noun (etc.) comes in. Beyond that, the nominative is -specifically, technically speaking- the case that covers the subject of a sentence. In English, Spanish and French, as far as we native speakers are concerned, we only really use the nominative. Although we do still have traces of a full case system. Old English had 4 different noun cases – one reason why it is unrecognisable and incomprehensible to Modern English users! In Modern English we have…

the subjective — our highly dominant version of the nominative
the objective — the conventional accusative and the dative functions merged together – but only used for pronouns these days: we/us, I/me, he/him, she/her. It is ultimately only a subtle trace of the case system Old English once had.
and the genitive/possessive case — for indicating possession, that a noun “belongs” to another one e.g. “my bag” = “the bag of I”. “Tamsin’s blog”. We don’t really have genitive forms in English, but of course we do still rely heavily on the function of “genitivity” and for that reason the genitive case can still be argued as existing in English from a subtle technical point of view.

I would say that technically, pedantically speaking, we do have cases in English, as in, some English words do take on declensions of sorts. However, we don’t have a (full) “case system”: we have only maintained traces of our old system for practical ends. Do these count? It’s up for debate, and a matter of perspective or discernment.

My mind was boggled when I first discovered the phenomenon of grammatical case. I immediately wanted to know about all the very philosophical ins-and-outs. They generally serve to convey the function of a noun in a sentence, sure, but what is really going here? What do case systems represent from an ideological, philosophical, theoretical standing – if anything? Thankfully, I managed to come up with an answer to this for myself.

#TheCaseForCases

One day, it clicked that languages with case systems presided over networks of what I would describe as “concentric nuance”. Of course, the more cases a language has, the more layers of concentric nuance it has. Although that is not strictly how it works, but hopefully you get the idea/picture. These features of language are called cases because you are encasing nouns with further meaning by using them, I suppose. Instead of using more words (prepositions) to specify what a noun’s particular role is in a sentence/situation, you can sometimes just “click on” a declension instead. It’s mind-bogglingly tricky at first, but they become super nifty once you get the hang of it. Native speakers of languages with extensive case systems generally enjoy a leg up when it comes to spatial reasoning, FYI. This is #TheCaseForCases. The case against being obviously that they are highly tedious and mind-boggling feats to get one’s head around – at least at the beginning anyway.

To demonstrate

Let’s take a look at Russian, since they have a straightforward (and therefore crystal clear to examine) relationship with their case system. Russian has six cases in total…

Nominative
Accusative
Dative
Accusative
Instrumental
Prepositional

Nominative case / именительный падеж / imenitel’nyy padezh

Студент читает / student chitayet The student is reading.
cтудент –> cтудент (no change)

Genitive case / родительный падеж / roditel’nyy padezh

берег реки / bereg reki the bank of the river
река –> реки (the ending -a becomes -и)
The genitive is used to show that something or somebody belongs or refers to something or somebody else. It can be translated by “of” in English.
So:
река / reka = river (nom.)
реки / reki = of the river, the river’s, belonging to the river (gen.)
берег реки / bereg reki = the riverbank, the bank of the river, the river’s bank, the bank belonging to the river

Dative case / дательный падеж / datel’nyy padezh

Я иду к врачу / Ya idu k vrachu I go to the doctor
Я даю это другу / Ya dayu eto drugu I give it to the friend
врач –> врачу (the ending -у is added)
друг –> другу
The dative designates that something is given or addressed to the person (object).
So:
врач / vrach = doctor (nom.)
к врачу / k vrachu = to the doctor (dat.)
друг / drug = friend (nom.)
другу / drugu = to the friend (dat.)

Accusative case / винительный падеж / vinitel’nyy padezh

Я читаю газету / Ya chitayu gazetu I read the newspaper
Я встретил друга / Ya vstretil druga I met the friend
газета –> газету (the ending -а becomes -у)
друг –> друга (the ending -а is added)
The accusative designates the object of an action.
So:
газета / gazeta = newspaper (nom.) as the subject; газету / gazetu = newspaper (acc.) as the object
друг / drug = friend (n. & subj.); друга / druga = friend (a. & obj.)

Instrumental case / творительный падеж / tvoritel’nyy padezh

Я пишу карандашом / Ya pishu karandashom I write with a pencil
карандаш –> карандашом (the ending -ом is added)
The instrumental case is used to denote an instrument that helps to make something.
So:
карандаш / karandash = pencil (nom.)
карандашом / karandashom = with a pencil (ins.), “pencil-wise”

Prepositional case / предложный падеж / predlozhnyy padezh

Она мечтает о лете / Ona mechtayet o lete. She dreams about the summer
Цветы стоят на столе / Tsvety stoyat na stole. The flowers are on the table
лето –> лете (the ending -о becomes -е)
стол –> столе (the ending -е is added)
The prepositional case used to designate a place, or a person (object) that is an object of speech and thought. This case is always used with a preposition.
So:
лето / leto = summer (nom.)
o летe / o lete = about the summer
стол / stol = table (nom.)
на столе / na stole = on the table

And so in Russian… the nominative is, well, the nominative. The genitive conveys possessive alignment. The dative designates concessional indirect objectivity, let’s say – the etymology of the term “dative” having its root in the Latin “dare”/“dat-“, meaning ‘to give’/‘given’. The accusative, as always, is used with direct objects. The instrumental is used to convey instrument, and the prepositional to doubly convey indirect objectivity with flourish. Every single case system has its own special nuances like this.

“I give it to her.”… “She gives it to me.” — Well, Hungarian has 18 ways to decline a noun (etc.) thus! 18!!!!!

Linguistic dimensions

In Oriental languages, meanwhile, they have what I would describe as entire other linguistic “dimensions” (the Orientalesque languages are the “Conceptual-Abstract” Tongues, after all…!). Well, entire clauses take on markers to determine their nature.

For example, the basic Japanese sentence as a topic and a comment section. The topic is indicated by the topic marker wa.

私は山下です。

私 = watashi = I; は = wa = topic marker; 山下 = Yamashita; です = desu = am

Watashi wa Yamashita desu.

I am Yamashita.

The topic is more often the subject of a sentence, but it can also be the object…

私はます。

Watashi wa tabemasu.

I eat fish.

Japanese makes use of small words called particles that show how different parts of the sentence relate to each other, very similarly to how cases show the functions of nouns.

In Japanese we have…

は wa — topic marker
が ga — subject marker
Dare ga keeki o tabemashita ka? Who-ga ate the cake?
を o — direct object marker
に ni — indirect object marker, goal and location marker
と to — connects nouns, means ‘and’ or ‘with’
Tanaka-san wa Yamada-san to sushiya ni ikimashita. Mr/Ms Tanaka went with Mr/Ms Yamada to a sushi restaurant. ••• Mr/Ms Tanaka-wa + Mr/Ms Yamada-in–to (geddit?… with * in tow!) + sushi restaurant-ni (to sushi restaurant) + went
で de — indicates means by which an action is carried, or place where an action takes place
Densha de Kyouto ni ikimasu. I/you/he/she/we/they will go to Kyoto by train. ••• Train-by Kyoto-to (I/you/he/she/we/they) will-go.
の no — indicates that second noun is described in some way by first noun, e.g. possession
Nihon no tabemono wa oishii desu. Japanese food is delicious. ••• Japan’s food-wa delicious is.
も mo — means ‘too/also/as well’
Furansu no tabemono mo oishii desu. French food is also delicious.
から kara — means ‘from/since’
まで made — means ‘until/as far as’
Toukyou kara Kyouto made dono kurai kakarimasu ka? How long does it take from Tokyo to Kyoto?
か ka — question marker
Watashi no nimotsu wa doko ni arimasu ka? Where is my luggage?
ね ne — asks for agreement or confirmation i.e. “Right?”
Atsui desu ne. It’s hot, isn’t it.
よ yo — adds emphasis
Ii desu yo. It’s all right./I don’t mind.
A: Kaimasen ne. You’re not going to buy it, are you? B: Iie, kaimasu yo. Yes, I am going to buy it.
kara also means because/so
Kinou wa byouki datta kara, gakkou ni ikimasen deshita. I was ill yesterday, so I didn’t go to school / I didn’t go to school yesterday, because I was ill.
ga also means but
Nihongo wa muzukashii desu ga, omoshiroi desu. Japanese is difficult, but interesting.

Korean has a similar system…

~은/는 (~ eun / neun | Topic marker)
~이/가 (~i / ga | Subject marker)
~을/를 (~eul/reul | Direct object marker)
~에 (~e | Time/Location)
~과/와 (~gwa/wa | connects nouns, means ‘and’ and ‘with’)
~에서 (~ eseo | Location, indicates the place where an action takes place)
~의 (~ ui | indicates that the second noun is described in some way by the first e.g. possession)
~도 (~ do | means ‘too/also/as well’)
~부터 (~buteo | means ‘from/since’)
~까지 (~ kkaji | means ‘until/as far as’)
누가 사과를 먹었습니까? Nuga sagwareul meogeossseumnikka? Who ate the apple?
한국의 음식은 맛있습니다. Hangugui eumsigeun masissseumnida. Korean food is delicious.
프랑스의 음식도 맛있습니다. Peurangseuui eumsikdo masissseumnida. French food is also delicious.