The categorial meaning signaling relations between elements (words) within sentence structure.
In Russian it is a fully-fledged word-changing morphological category with a well-developed paradigm: 3 declensions named simply first, second, and third declensions. The first declension is used for masculine and most neuter nouns. The second declension is used for most feminine nouns (and several masculine nouns having the same form as those of feminine gender, such as papa or uncle). The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending in and for neuter nouns ending in .
Theories of Case
1) The theory of positional case
It is old grammatical tradition set in contemporary text-books for school (J.C. Nesfield, M. Deutschbein, M. Bryant).
IDEA: the unchangeable forms of the noun are differentiated as different cases by virtue of the functional positions occupied by the noun in the sentence.
System of cases therefore includes:
n The inflexional genitive case
n The nominative ['nɔmɪnətɪv] case (subject to a verb): Rain falls.
n The vocative case (address): Are you coming, my friend?
n The dative case (indirect object to a verb): I gave John a penny.
n The accusative [ə kjuːzətɪv] case (direct object, and also an object to a preposition): The man killed a rat. The earth is moistened by rain.
Criticism: This theory substitutes the functional characteristics of the part of the sentence for the morphological features of the word class.
2) The Theory Of Prepositional Cases
G. Curme
IDEA: combinations of nouns with prepositions in certain object and attributive collocations should be understood as morphological case-forms. Inflexional prepositions are treated as grammatical elements equivalent to case-forms.
System of cases:
n the dative case (to + NOUN, for + NOUN)
n the genitive case (of + NOUN)
n the common case??
Criticism: all the other prepositional phrases in English must be regarded as analytical cases, the total number of the cases running into dozens upon dozens.
3) The Limited Case Theory
H. Sweet, O. Jespersen, .. , ..
IDEA: based on the explicit oppositional approach to the recognition of grammatical categories.
System of cases:
n the possessive (genitive) as the strong member of the categorial opposition;
n the common (non-genitive) as the weak member of the opposition.
4) The Theory Of The Possessive Postposition
..
IDEA: the English noun has completely lost the category of case - the GENITIVE CASE form is a combination of a noun with a postposition with preposition-like functions.
Reasoning:
1) The postpositional element s is loosely connected with the noun as it can be used not only with single nouns, but also with whole word-groups: somebody elses daughter
2) There is parallelism of functions between the possessive postpositional constructions and the prepositional constructions, resulting in the optional use of the former: the daughter of somebody else
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Criticism: the noun form in -`s is systemically contrasted against the unfeatured form of the noun we cant ignore the totality of opposition!
Semantic Types of the Genitive
1) "genitive of possessor: inorganic possession, i.e. possessional relation of the genitive referent to the object denoted by the head-noun
Christine's living-room > the living-room belongs to Christine
2) "genitive of integer: organic possession, i.e. a broad possessional relation of a whole to its part Jane's busy hands > the busy hands as part of Jane's person
(a subtype - "genitive of received qualification: the computer's reliability)
3) "genitive of agent: an activity or some broader processual relation with the referent of the genitive as its subject
the great man's arrival > the great man arrives
(a subtype - "genitive of author: the committee's progress report)
4) "genitive of patient: expresses the recipient of
the action or process denoted by the head-noun
the champion's sensational defeat > the champion is defeated
5) "genitive of destination: denotes the destination, or function of the referent of the head-noun
women's footwear > footwear for women
6) "genitive of dispensed qualification: some characteristic or qualification, not received, but given by the genitive noun to the referent of the head-noun
a girl's voice > a voice characteristic of a girl
(a subtype - "genitive of comparison: his perky sparrow's smile > the smile making the man resemble a perky sparrow)
7) " genitive of adverbial: denotes adverbial factors relating to the referent of the head-noun
yesterday's encounter; Moscow's talks
8) "genitive of quantity: denotes the measure or quantity relating to the referent of the head-noun
three miles' distance; an hour's delay
