A study in the syntax and semantics of the german case system

Abstract

In this thesis I examine the uses of German cases In a limited semantic context . After two introductory chapters on theories and methods , Chapter 3 investigates the semantic field of motion, the different ways In which motion is described and the roles in which noun phrases occur In this context . The following three chapters analyse the devices by which spatial relations are expressed Chapter 4: prepositions , Chapter 5: adverbs , Chapter 6: prefixes . Separable prefixes are treated as adverbs . In these chapters , especially in Chapter 4, systematic differences between the Dative and Accusative begin to emerge . Chapter 7 discusses the adverbial use of the Accusative . In Chapters 8 and 9, I investigate whether the same syntactic devices are used to describe motion of and in relation to particular classes of objects : body parts (ch . 8 . ) and animate- beings (Ch . 9 . ) . In t hes e two chapters the role of the Dative in describing spatial relations is more clearly defined , but -some light is also thrown on the function of the Accusative (9 . 3 . ) . In the remaining three chapters , the Dative which is restricted to an i mate noun -phrases is analysed . Three types of meaning are found to be encoded by the Dative : one \ I which is dependent on the specific animate functions of the animate being as being able to respond to its environment (Chapter 10) ; another type which depends on an objectively definable relation between the animate being and an object involved in the event described (Chapter 11) ; and a third which signals a particular attitude of the animate being towards an event (Chapter 12) . Throughout , meanings of cases as well as lexical items are found to be clearly distinct and definable . Generalizations are possible about the functions of the Nominative, Accusative, and Dative (the Genitive could not be analysed here) .