The category of case of English nouns

Case indicates the relations of the noun to the other words in the sentence. It helps to define the syntactic function of the N. in the sent. It’s a morphological category in English, because it’s represented by dif. w-forms of one and the same noun. Most linguists regard it as such & agree that the Eng. noun has 2 distinct cases, because it has 2 distinct form cases.

The genitive case is built up by the opposition of 2 forms (the com.case & the genet.case). The form of the gen. case is marked. The formal marker is the case morpheme is represented by a number of phonol. conditioned allomorphs [s, z, iz]. It’s characterized by a number of points limit in its use in the lang. Its mainly applied to names of human beings, but it can be used with some inanimate nouns: esp. denoting time & space relations (yesterday’s paper) and some adverbs…

The common case this form is unmarked & is represented by a zero morpheme. In plural nouns the case morpheme & the number morpheme are very often expressed by one & the same morpheme “ ‘ “: boys’ toys. In nouns that build up the plural with the help of other means but “s” ( children, women) the case morpheme is expressed separately by the suffix ‘s which follows the morpheme of number. The use of nouns in the common case is very frequent (98%).

3. Paradigmatic & Syntagmatic Relations in Grammar

Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear relations between units in a segmental sequence. The combination of two words or word-groups one of which is modified by the other forms a unit which is reffered to as a syntactic ” syntagma”.

There are four main types of notional syntagmas: predicative (the combination of a subject and a predicate), objective (-/- a verb and its object), attributive (a noun and attribute), adverbial (a modified notional word, such as a verb, adjective, or adverb, with its adverbial modifier). The other type of relations, opposed to syntagmatic and called “paradigmatic”. Unlike syntagmatic relations, paradigmatic relations cannot be directly observed in utterances, that is why they are reffered to as relations “in absentia”. According to different principles of similarity PR can be divided into 3 types: semantic, formal and functional.

Semantic PR are based on the similarity of meaning: a book to read = a book for reading. He used to practice English every day - He would practice English every day.

Formal PR are based on the similarity of forms. Such relations exist between the members of a paradigm: man - men; play - played - will play - is playing.

Functional PR are based on the similarity of function. They are established between the elements that can occur in the same position. For instance, noun determiners: a, the, this, his, Ann’s, some, each, etc.

Syntagmatic relations can be divided into 3 types: coordinate, subordinate and predicative.

Coordinate SR exist between the homogeneous linguistic units that are equal in rank, that is, they are the relations of independence: you and me; They were tired but happy.

Subordinate SR are the relations of dependence when one linguistic unit depends on the other: teach + er - morphological level; a smart student - word-group level; predicative and subordinate clauses - sentence level.

Predicative SR are the relations of interdependence: primary and secondary predication.