| The Fundamentals of Case Grammar: |
| Part 5 |
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| Dr. JCS: | Now let's see how well you've grasped the notion
of Case Frames. I'll give you some verbs
and you define their Case Frame. |
| RLM: | Well, if you don't mind my saying, I'm here to
interview you, not to be tested. |
| Dr. JCS: | Silence! "Begin!" |
| RLM: | Well, you haven't given me a verb yet! |
| Dr. JCS: | No, that's it - "to begin!" That's the verb! |
| RLM: | Oh, the verb is "to begin!" Let's see:
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| Dr. JCS: | Fine. Now what are the Deep Cases of the
nouns "play," "author" and "games?" |
| RLM: | The nouns "play" and "games" are Objects.
"Author" is an Agent. Oh, and "in Paris" is a Locative.
I guess "at eight" is just an adverb. |
| Dr. JCS: | We Deep Case Grammarians don't much care
about adverbs! They're grammatically jejune! |
| RLM: | Jejune? |
| Dr. JCS: | Jejune! They're dull, insipid! |
| RLM: | Whatever! So with the verb "to begin," something,
a "play," a "novel" or "games" - in Case Grammar terms
an Object - "begins." Agent and Locative are optional. |
| Dr. JCS: | Now, try another verb "to unlock." |
| RLM: | "To unlock." Some examples would be: , Let's see,
the first sentence we only have an Object, the "door."
The second sentence has an Object, the "door," and an Instrument, the "key." The third sentence has an Agent, the "porter" who does the action; an Object, the "door," which receives the action of the verb; and a Benefactive, the "guests," who receives the "benefit" of the action of the verb "to unlock." The phrase "at the Park Hotel" is a Locative. Thus we can say that in terms of Case Frames, the verb "to unlock" requires an Object, but all other cases, like Agent, Benefactory, Instrument and Locative are optional. |
| Dr. JCS: | Good! One final verb. Let's switch to Russian:
любить. Use some examples from Russian poetry! |
| RLM: | From Russian poetry? Okay, the verb любить.
Some examples would be:
"Love" is an emotion, a feeling. Thus, the verb "to love" ~ любить has as its Surface Structure "subject" not an Agent but an Experiencer, an animate being who "experiences love." The Surface Structure "object" of that feeling of love may be animate or inanimate. I have no problem with an inanimate in the role of a Deep Case Object - "eyes," "a map," and the like. Inanimates can't be anything but Objects. However, is a person, say, Pushkin's lover, a woman... Is she an Object? Goodness, I can see how one can easily get into some really "deep case" trouble here! |
| Dr. JCS: | I do the humor around here! What is your answer? |
| RLM: | I would say that a person who is loved is a...
Well, Experiencer is out because the person "doing
the loving" already occupies that Deep Case. The Benefactive
Case? It describes the person who 'benefits,' the one,
to whom or for whom, the action of the verb is performed! |
| Dr. JCS: | You have no lifelines left! Is the Benefactive
Case your final answer? |
| RLM: | Yes! No, wait! Yes! My final answer is the Object!! The Case Frames of the verb любить trigger the notion of an Experiencer and an Object!! My final answer! |
| Dr. JCS: | You said Experiencer and Object?? I hate to tell you but... I do believe that you've gotten the Fundamentals of Case Grammar! |
| RLM: | Oh! I can't believe it!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I think... |
| Dr. JCS: | Get out! Where is that book? It was just here. |
| Part 5 |
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