The Fundamentals of Case Grammar:
Introduction
Part 1: Surface Structure/Deep Structure

Dr. JCS: Where is that book? It was just here!
Sorry. You must be here for the interview?
RLM: Dr. Strangelove, I presume.

Yes, the interview. Though, I'm sure this will take more than one session.

Be that as it may, I sincerely hope that during our time together, we can produce something that can be called the Fundamentals of Case Grammar.

Could you give us a brief preview of the subject?
Dr. JCS: As varied as the world's languages are, human language, as such, is capable of expressing perhaps six basic concepts which we call Case Notions or Deep Cases. The description of these notions and their expression is the nucleus of Case Grammar.

Let us begin by distinguishing the two terms that are fundamental to Case Grammar: Deep Structure and Surface Structure.

What is the difference in meaning between these English sentences?
  • Columbus discovered America.
  • America was discovered by Columbus.

RLM: There is no difference in meaning. What is different is that the first sentence expresses the "idea" through an active construction; while the second sentence uses a passive construction.
Dr. JCS: Exactly! The process of language begins on the Deep Structure level with a non-verbal - yet conscious - "idea" or, better yet, "thought."
When we speak, we bring that "thought" up and articulate it, providing the thought with a Surface Structure, the actual words we use.

In the two examples we're discussing, the Surface Structures, that is, the actual verbalizations of the thought, are different. And yet, the Deep Structure - or the "thought" itself - is the same.

Why? First of all, the lexical arguments are the same. Moreover, on a deeper lever, the level of Case Grammar, the Case Notions are also the same:

The verb "to discover" has the same Agent, "Columbus," who is the "doer" of the action, and the same "recipient" of the action, the Object, "America."

What is different is the mapping of these elements into the Surface Structure.

Let's continue by translating these sentences into Russian.
  • Columbus discovered America.
  • Америку открыл Колумб.

  • America was discovered by Columbus.
  • Америка была открыта Колумбом.
Once more, all four sentences express the same "thought." In other words, their Deep Structure is the same. But now we can examine the differences in their Surface Structures to learn something about how English and Russian express Deep Cases.

Notice that in the two active sentences the words are ordered differently:
  • Columbus discovered America.
  • Америку открыл Колумб.
The Case Notions, that is, the grammatical relationships between the verb and its constituent noun-phrases, are expressed largely through affixation in Russian. Whereas in English a strict word order is used to express Case Notions.

Thus for the Deep Structure to remain constant, English requires that the verb be preceeded by Agent and followed by the Object. No rigid requirement exists in Russian because the affix usually marks the Object and distinguishes it from the Agent.

In Russian we could just as well have said:
  • Америку Колумб открыл.
  • Колумб Америку открыл.
  • Открыл Америку Колумб.
To the Russian mind the difference between these sentences is that they stress different aspects of the same Deep Structure "thought." Be that as it may, they are all grammatically correct and they all render the same idea, namely:
  • Columbus discovered America.
Now let us compare the passive sentences:
  • America was discovered by Columbus.
  • Америка была открыта Колумбом.
Once more we see that in Russian affixes express the relationship between words. The Agent "Колумб" is now marked by the instrumental case ending -ом. In English the marking of "Columbus" as the Agent is accomplished by the addition of the preposition by.

You asked me for a brief introduction to our subject. Let me conclude by saying that the grammar of a given language defines the rules used by that language for the Surface Structure mappings of deeper universal relationships called Case Notions.

In short, other than their unique lexical data bases, the only difference between, say, Albanian and Zulu - or English and Russian, for that matter - is the way these individual and distinct languages map essential grammatical relationships.

RLM: Thank you. I think...

We'll return to Case Notions shortly. But first let's discuss your latest work-in-progress.
Introduction
Part 1: Surface Structure/Deep Structure
 Part 2