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Юриспунденкция

THE NOUN

General Characteristics

The English noun is a pan of speech that is characterized by the following features. 1.. Meaning:

a) generalized lexi co-grammatical primary meaning of
'thingness', e.g.: table, chair, lamp, etc.;

b) generalized grammatical secondary meaning of'thingness',
t.g.:joy, peace, milk, etc.

2. Combinability with:

a) verbs, both in preposition and in postposition, e.g.:
He closed the door ... (S. Sheldon),

The door closed (I. Murdoch);

b) adjectives, usually in preposition, e.g.:
She was a beautiful girl... (J. Cheever);

c) prepositive nouns, both in the genitive and in the common
case, e.g.:

... and the evenings were long and happy, because Robert's father was there (N. Hale),

I saw it in the Chicago newspaper (F.S. Fitzgerald);

d) prepositive articles and other determiners, e.g.:
Wait a minute (E. Hemingway),

The father tried his best... (W.C. Williams), My heart sank a little (W.S. Maugham);

e) prepositions, e.g.:

He read a letter from his wife to me (T. Mori);

3. Syntactic .Functions:

a) subject, e.g.:

Father decided to take a holiday from his office... (S. Leacock);

b) object, e.g.:

You love your parents, don't you? (J.D. Salinger).

4. MorphologicaJ Structure.

As far as their morphological structure is concerned, nouns fall under the following types;

a) simple,

b) derived,

c) compound.

Simple nouns have neither prefixes nor suffixes, e.g.: book, pen, pencil, table, chair, lamp, etc.

Derived nouns have either a prefix or a suffix or both. Noun derivational prefixes typically do not change the word class; i.e. the prefix is attached to a noun base to form a new noun with a different meaning, e.g.:

group - subgroup.

Noun derivational suffixes, on the other hand, often change the word class; i.e. the suffix is often attached to a verb or adjective base to form a noun with a different meaning. Cf.:

agree (v) — agreement (n),

effective (adj) — effectiveness (n).

There are, however, also many nouns that are derived by suffixes from other nouns, e.g.:

infant (n) — infancy, (n).

Apart from derivation by affixes, there is also zero derivation (or conversion). Adjectives and verbs may be converted to nouns. The noun often acquires more specific meanings with conversion. Cf:

White (adj) — You could see the whites of his eyes (D. Biber et aL).

Walk (v) — Let's go for a walk (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).

Affixes vary in frequency and productivity, i.e. the extent to which they are used to build new words. Noun derivational prefixes are considerably less frequent and less productive than noun derivational suffixes. A reason why derivational prefixes are less productive than derivational suffixes is perhaps that many of them are of Greek origin, whereas almost all the suffixes are of Romance or native Germanic origin. It is noticeable that the two most productive prefixes are in fact Latinate ones: co- and sub-. Cf.: co-chairman, sub-committee.

The productivity of the Greek prefixes hyper-, mono-, and poly- could be due to the fact that they arrived in English more recently and are frequently used nowadays to create new lexical items, mainly in specialized scientific areas. Cf.: hyperinflation, monosyllable, polysyllable.

Although derivational suffixes are characterized by a higher frequency of occurrence than derivational prefixes, there are

extensive differences in the productivity of noun derivational suffixes. The suffix -ion is by far the most productive, e.g.: action, communication, education, operation, situation, etc.

The derivational suffixes -ity, -er, -ness, -ism, and -ment are relatively productive, too, e.g.: ability, writer, darkness, realism, development, etc.

Since in academic discussions frequent reference is made to abstract concepts that usually find their expression in derived abstract nouns, derivational affixes are by far the most productive in academic prose.

In compound nouns two or more than two words are combined to form a single noun. In English, compounding is a highly productive process. Cf.: eye-witness, lamp-post, bigwig, cookbook, rocking-chair, income, self-control, etc.

Practice varies as to whether to represent a compound as two orthographic words, one unbroken orthographic word, or a hyphenated word. Partly this is because there is no clear dividing line between compounds and free combinations.

Compounds are over twice as frequent in news than in conversation. It is not surprising, for the overall frequency of nouns in conversation is much smaller than in news. What is more, the greater variety of compound patterns in news fits in with the tendency of this register to use a more varied vocabulary.

'Noun + noun compounds' are the most productive type structurally, e.g.: newspaper. The next most common types of compounds are those consisting of adjective 4- noun and those beginning or ending with a particle, e.g.: highway, feedback, outfit.

5- Mprphplo^cal.Categones.

Nouns that possess a generalized lexico-grammatical primary meaning of 'thingness' and are consequently placed in the centre of the noun field have the morphological categories of case and number.

The Category of Case

Definition of Case

The notion of case goes back to Ancient Greece. However, they understood it differently then. Thus, Aristotle defined cases as deviations from names and verbs due to the logically dependent position in the sentence, i.e. according to Aristotle, both nouns and verbs had cases.

The Stoics restricted the use of the term 'case¹ to noun paradigms. They were the first to call them 'nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and instrumental'.

Nowadays, case is usually regarded as a morphological form of a declinable word used to express a certain meaning or to denote a certain relation to other words [C.T. Onions].

B.A. Ilyish gives another definition. In his opinion, case is a category of the noun expressing relations between the thing denoted by the noun and another thing, property, or action. This definition does not stand criticism: being a linguistic notion, case cannot connect objects of extra linguistic reality.

Number of Cases

Linguists are still at variance as to the number of cases in Modern English. Representatives of universal grammar speak of 6 cases, i.e. they apply the Latin system to the English language. But English has its own peculiarities that should not be disregarded. For example, as opposed to inflected Latin, Modem English is an analytical language.

J.C. Nesfield mentions 5 cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, and dative remarking at the same time that the genitive is the only case that is now indicated by change of form. The other cases have lost their case inflections and are indicated only by grammatical relation.

When a noun is used as subject, it is said to be in the nominative case, e.g.:

Rainfalls (J.C. Nesfield).

When a noun is used for the sake of address, it is said to be in the vocative case, e.g.:

Pronouns: Nouns:

Are you coming, my friend"?(J.C. Nesfield).

When a noun is a direct object, it is said to be in the accusative case, e.g.:

Mary took the money(M. Vince, K. McNicholas).

When a noun is an indirect object, it is said to be in the dative case, e.g.:

1 gave theboy a penny (J.C. Nesfieid).

If we stick to the definition of case as a morphological category, we shall have to admit that neither nominative, nor vocative, nor accusative, nor dative exist in Modern English because there are no formal distinctions between them.

According to G. Curme, there are 4 cases in Modern English: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative. These cases did exist in Old English. In the course of time, however, the original nominative, dative, and accusative coincided in one form that is opposed nowadays to the inflected genitive.

But G. Curme thinks that the relations that were earlier expressed by special case inflections are now indicated by word order and prepositional combinations.

However, case is a morphological category, and word order is a syntactic factor. As for the theory of the so-called analytical cases that consist of a preposition and a noun, it is debatable, too. B.S. Khaimovich and B.I. Rogovskaya deny their existence on the following grounds.

1. Every grammatical category should comprise a limited
number of members. If we referred prepositional combinations to
case forms, the number of cases would grow immensely, and we
would be merely creating the illusion of classification.

2. Analytical forms are generally singled out as opposed to
synthetic forms. With prepositional constructions, it is different.
They are often synonymous with the so-called synthetic cases, e.g.:

the house of your neighbour = your neighbour's house (O. Jespersen).

3. There is much subjectivity in the choice of prepositions.

M. Bryant and H. Whitehall single out 3 cases in Modern English nouns by analogy with case forms of personal pronouns: nominative, genitive, and objective.

Objective

Genitive his man's

Nominative

him man

he man

Criticizing this point of view, A.I. Smirnitsky puts forth the following arguments.

1. Nouns and personal pronouns belong to different parts of
speech.

2. The group of personal pronouns is rather small. That's why
it is doubtful that the case system of personal pronouns could
influence the case system of nouns.

What is more, nouns lack special inflections for the nominative and the objective.

The majority of linguists recognize the existence of 2 cases in Modern English: common and genitive. The common case is unmarked both in meaning and in form. It has a very general meaning that is specified by means of word order and prepositions and that may be characterized only negatively as a non-genitive form. It is represented by a zero exponent. Nouns in the common case can perform any syntactic function in the sentence. Cf.:

Suddenly the weatherchanged (L. Untermeyer) - subject.

He touched my hand(G. Jones) - direct object.

The grocer gave the babya stick of candy ... (H. Garland) -non-prepositional indirect object.

Mrs. Hail did not ask about her affairs(H. Garland) -prepositional indirect object.

He was a shy man(B. MacLeverty) - predicative.

She's inthe souvenirshop (English Course) - attribute.

He had not seen Mabel for seven years(W.S. Maugham) -adverbial.

Genitive Case Form of the Genitive Case

The genitive case is marked both in meaning and in form. The regular way of forming the genitive case of singular nouns is by adding 's, e.g.:

My sister's little girl fell downstairs (J. Cheever).

There are two ways of forming the genitive case of plural nouns. If the plural ends in -s, we just add an apostrophe, e.g.:

Even grandmothers'dreams don't always come true... (D.H. Lawrence).

If the plural does not end in -s, we add 's, e.g.:

The children'stoys are new (R. Quirk et al.).

Meaning of the Genitive Case

The central meaning of the genitive case is that of possession.

e.g.:

Vinny would inherit her mother's money(D.H. Lawrence).

That's why A.I. Smirnitsky suggests that the genitive case should be called the possessive case.

The meaning of possession, however, is not the only meaning of the genitive case. In Old English, the genitive case had a wide range of meanings. Nowadays, the scope of meanings of the genitive case has narrowed. Nevertheless, linguists, both abroad and in this country, mention several semantic types of the genitive case.

1. Possessive genitive, e.g.:

Mrs. Johnson's passport —» Mrs. Johnson has a passport (R. Quirk etal.).

2. Subjective genitive, indicating the doer of the action, e.g.:
the people's choice —» The people chose (S. Greenbaum).

3. Genitive of source, denoting such relationships as
authorship and origin. Cf.:

the general's letter —> The general wrote a letter (R. Quirk et al.).

Australia's exports —» the exports that come from Australia (S. Greenbaum).

4. Objective genitive, indicating the object of the action, e.g.:
Kennedy's assassination —» Somebody assassinated Kennedy

(S. Greenbaum).

5. Temporal genitive, denoting a period of time, e.g.:

ten days' absence —> The absence lasted ten days (R. Quirk et al.).

6. Equational genitive, establishing the identity of the referent,

a mile's distance

The distance is a

(L.S. Barkhudarov).

7. Genitive of destination, e.g.:

a women's college —»• a college for women (R. Quirk et al.).

The semantic classification, in the opinion of R. Quirk and his co-authors, is in part arbitrary. For example, one could claim that cow's milk is not a genitive of origin (milk from a cow) but a subjective genitive (The cow provided the milk}. No wonder that L.S. Barkhudarov sometimes finds it difficult to name the kerne! sentence from which the construction with the genitive case has been derived, e.g.: Nick's school (L.S. Barkhudarov). Of course, Nick's school could be transformed into Nick goes to school, but such transformations can be regarded only as quasi transformations [Z. Harris] because they do not give an opportunity to clearly formulate the rules of generating constructions with the genitive case.

Types of Nouns Used in the Genitive Case

In Old English, the genitive case was freely formed from all nouns. In Modern English, the genitive case is restricted to the following nouns.

1. Personal names, e.g.:

George Washington's statue (R. Quirk et al.).

2. Personal nouns, e.g.:

the boy's new bicycle (R. Quirk et al.).

3. Animal nouns, in particular those denoting 'higher animals',
e.g.:

the horse's tail (R. Quirk et al.), the dog's collar (R. Quirk et al.).

4. Collective nouns, which emphasize the aspect of 'organized
individuals¹, in particular those denoting authoritative and other
organizational bodies, e.g.:

the government's economic plans (R. Quirk et al.), the committee's decision (R. Quirk et al.)-

5. Geographical names:

continents: Europe's future (R. Quirk et al.), countries: China's development (R. Quirk et al.),

states: Maryland's Democratic senator (R. Quirk et al.), cities and towns: London's water supply (R. Quirk et al.), universities: Harvard's Department of Linguistics (R. Quirk et al.).

6. Locative nouns denoting regions, institutions, heavenly
bodies, etc. They can be very similar to geographical names, and are
often written with initial capital letters, e.g.:

the world's economy (R. Quirk et af,), the Club ^!s pianist (R. Quirk et al.), (he hotel's entrance (R. Quirk et al.), (he school's history (R. Quirk et al.).

7. Temporal nouns, e.g.:

a day's work(R. Quirk et al.),

a moment's thought (R. Quirk et al.),

today's payer (R. Quirk et al.).

8. Other nouns of 'special relevance to human activity', e.g.:
the mind's development (R. Quirk et al.),

the body's needs (R. Quirk et a!.),

my life's aim (R. Quirk et al,),

the book's true importance (R. Quirk et ai.),

the play's philosophy (R. Quirk et al.),

the novel's structure (R. Quirk et al.),

a word's function (R. Quirk et al.),

television's future (R. Quirk et al,),

duty's call (R. Quirk et al.),

the poll's results (R. Quirk et al.),

the treaty's ratification (R. Quirk et al.).

Use of the Genitive Case

As to its use, the genitive case fails under dependent and independent. Dependent genitives are used with the nouns they modify and come before them, e.g.:

He stared at his aunt's face(J.C. Gates).

Independent genitives occur without a following head noun. Many independent genitives involve ellipsis. In elliptical genitives, the head noun can be inferred either from the preceding or from the following context. Cf.:

My car is faster than John's(R. Quirk et al.).

Mary's was the prettiest dress (R. Quirk et al.).

Other independent genitives have become conventional, and they need no supporting noun head in the context. They generally refer to people's homes, shops, restaurants, bars, firms, and other places. R. Quirk and his co-authors call them local independent genitives. Cf.:

We 'H meet at Bill's(R. Quirk et al.).

/ bought these buns at the baker's(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).

Let s have dinner at Tiffany's(R. Quirk et al.).

I'm going to the dentist's(R. Quirk et al,).

Elliptical independent genitives are relatively rare in all registers. Local independent genitives are more frequent, but still rare compared with dependent genitives. Conversation makes the most frequent use of independent genitives. Independent genitives reflect the greater simplicity of phrases in conversation.

Choice between S-Genitives and Of-Phrases

The genitive meaning can be rendered by a noun as head of a prepositional phrase with of. The (^phrase is normally used with inanimate concrete nouns, e.g.:

the roof of this house (R. Quirk et al.).

The choice between the i'-genitive and the q^phrase, according to the authors of the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, varies depending upon a number of factors, the most important of which are: register, the type of dependent noun, semantic relations between head and the dependent phrase, the complexity of the dependent phrase, the information status of the dependent phrase, and specific collocations.

Register. S-genitives are outnumbered by o/-phrases in all registers. The far greater frequency of ey^phrases in all registers may be due to the fact that postmodification produces a less dense and more transparent means of expression. The frequency of o/phrases represents the current state of a historical shift towards of that has been ongoing ever since Old English, where inflected genitive predominated.

News has by far the highest frequency of the ^-genitive, presumably because it represents a good way of compressing information. The low frequency of j-genitives in academic prose in

part reflects the suojcC* .patter of academic prose, where human beings and relationships play a less important roie than in other registers. Academic prose has by far the highest frequency of o/-phrases because the postmodiiying structure makes it clear which words go together and opens up more possibilities of qualifying the dependent noun.

The...type..pX.dependent..npun. Nouns with human/personal reference tend to occur with the s-genitive rather than an o/-phrase. Nouns with inanimate concrete reference and abstract impersonal nouns tend to occur in an of-phrase rather than the ^-genitive. Plural nouns are generally more likely to occur in e/-phrases than singular nouns.

Semantic..relations.between_.head.arid.._dependent; phrase. To indicate the object of an action, one usually resorts to an q^phrase. To render the meaning of possession and to denote the doer of an action, one generally makes use of the ^-genitive.

The..complexj^....of...^e...deE^4eQt..ЈfeMe. Most typically, 5-genitive constructions are used in one-word dependent phrases. In contrast, of-phr&ses are commonly used in much longer dependent phrases.

The., information....^ S-genitives,

coming before the head noun, are generally preferred for presenting given information; y/parases, following the head noun, are preferred for presenting new information. The choice agrees with one of the main ordering principles at the clause level, namely the information principle, stating that new information should be distributed later in the clause.

Specific....collocations. Genitives tend to occur in fixed collocations. Cf:

at death ^!s door,

life's work,

out of harm 's way.

The genitive with the word sake is particularly productive, e.g.:

for God's sake, for goodness' sake, for heaven 's sake.,

for old time 's/times' sake, etc.

Double Genitive

The double genitive is a special construction in which the independent genitive occurs in an of-phrase, e.g.:

He is a good friend of my husband's (S. Gibbons).

Constructions with of plus a possessive pronoun are often alternatives to double genitives. Cf.:

a friend of Deborah's (D. Biber et al.),

a friend of hers (D. Biber et al,).

The double genitive is far less common than corresponding constructions with possessive pronouns. The low frequency of the double genitive may in part be due to the fact that it competes with ordinary postmodi tying q^-phrases. Cf:

a friend of Deborah's —*• a friend of Deborah (D. Biber et a!.).

For the corresponding constructions with possessive pronouns there is no such alternative:

a friend of hers —> *a friend of her (D. Biber et al.).

The construction with of plus a possessive pronoun is particularly common in fiction.

The postmodifier in the double genitive must be definite and human, e.g.;

an opera of Verdi's (R. Quirk et al.).

The head noun in the double genitive must be essentially indefinite. That's why it is most typically preceded by the indefinite article if it is expressed by a common noun in the singular or by such words as some, several, and the like. Cf.:

a friend of the doctor's (R. Quirk et al.),

some friends of Jim's (R. Quirk et al.),

several pupils of his (R. Quirk et al.).

As a consequence of the condition that the head must be indefinite, the head cannot be a proper noun. Thus, while we can say Mrs. Brown's Mary (R. Quirk et al.), we cannot say *Mary of Mrs. Brown's (R. Quirk et al.).

Neither can the head combine with the definite article. When the noun preceding the o/-phrase has definite reference, the s-genitive would be used in preference to the double genitive, e.g.: Johnny's good idea instead of *the good idea of Johnny's (D. Biber et al.).

But the double genitive is commonly found with demonstratives, e.g.:

that irritating habit of her father's (R. Quirk et al.).

Group Genitive

Sometimes the genitive suffix is attached not to the head noun, but to the last word of a genitive phrase. It is the so-called group genitive. The group genitive is most common with of-phrases and coordinate phrases. Cf.:

the Museum of Modern Art's Director (R, Quirk et al.),

a minute or two's rest (B. Biber et al.).

Linguistic Status of's

G.N. Vorontsova denies the existence of the genitive case in Modem English. She offers the following proofs.

1. The use of the genitive case inflection 's is optional It
generally occurs with reference to human beings. With nouns
denoting inanimate things and abstract notions, the genitive case
relation is rendered by the o/-phrase, e.g.;

/ sat at the foot of thebed... (E. Hemingway).

The mysteries of storm and the rain and tidewere revealed (J. Galsworthy).

What is more, even those nouns, which do admit of the genitive case, often resort to the o/phrase to render the meaning of the genitive case. Cf.:

From the corner of my eye I had seen something small and white fly from Julian's body(L. Durrell).

/ could not see the body of Julian... (L. Durrell).

2. One and the same inflection ('s) is used both in the singular
and in the plural, which is usually not to be found in other
languages. Cf.:

English: the man's hat (V. Evans) - genitive singular,

the men's umbrellas (V. Evans) - genitive plural. Russian: McuibvuKa ~ genitive singular, - genitive plural.

3. The genitive case inflection goes back not to the Old
English genitive ~es, but to the formations of the kind the king his
head.

4. The 's does not make an inseparable part of the structure of
a word. Sometimes the 's refers to a whole group of words, e.g.:

The University of Minnesota^ President (R.Quirk et al.).

The function of the 's, according to G.N. Vorontsova, is parallel to that of a preposition, except that it is placed after the noun phrase. That's why G.N. Vorontsova calls it 'a postposition' (noc&enoe). R. Quirk and his co-authors call it an 'enclitic postposition'. An enclitic is an independent word in syntax that forms a phonological unit with the word that precedes it [P.M. Matthews].

A.I. Smirnitsky does not share G.N. Vorontsova's conception. He looks upon the 's as a grammatical morpheme of case. Here are his arguments.

1. Its general meaning 'the relation of a noun to another word'
is typical case meaning.

2. Although the use of the genitive case is relatively restricted
in Modern English and the o/-phrase is very often used in the same
sense, the inflected genitive can be formed from any noun. Cf.:

... he challenged the house's silence(W. Deeping). ... the clock's tick was as heavy as feet (J. Hanley). ... he could see her shoulders' softness... (D.H. Lawrence).

3. One and the same inflection occurs both in the singular and
in the plural only in nouns that form the plural in an irregular way,
and such nouns, as is well known, are very few.

4. Historically, the 's goes back to the Old English genitive
case inflection -es. The latter can be proved by comparing English
with the Scandinavian languages, which had very much in common.
In the Scandinavian languages, the genitive case had been
developing in the same way, although the possessive construction
the king his head was alien to them.

5. The 's can be separated from the noun it modifies, but cases
of the kind the University of Minnesota's President are not as
numerous as those where the 's morpheme is attached to the noun it
modifies. According to B.S.Khaimovich and B.I. Rogovskaya, they
constitute only about 4%.

6. The existence of certain lexical restrictions in the use of the
inflected genitive also testifies to the fact that the 's cannot be
included into one group with prepositions for the use of a
preposition is generally determined by the meaning of the
preposition itself and not by the meaning of the noun it introduces.

7. Finally, the 's differs from English prepositions
phonetically, in not having a vowel.

L.S. Barkhudarov thinks that neither of the two interpretations is convincing. On the one hand, we cannot follow G.N. Vorontsova and say that the 's is a word.

1. In the English language, all words comprise a vowel.

2. If the 's were a word, then it would be impossible to account
for the morphological structure of such constructions as the boys'

friends, where one and the same morph [z] would have to be regarded as a morpheme when rendering the grammatical meaning of the plural number and as a word when rendering the grammatical meaning of the genitive case. The latter is absurd.

On the other hand, the 's is hardly a traditional morpheme, as A.L Smirnitsky thinks. Really, if the 's were a traditional morpheme, the preceding sequence of elements would have to be looked upon as a compound word, for a traditional morpheme always makes part of a word. The structure of inflected genitive case forms, however, runs counter to the current definition of the word, according to which we cannot insert into the word any other word, word combination, or clause. In the constructions under examination, this can be done. Cf.:

A week's sunshine —*• a week or so's sunshine (R. Quirk et al.). — The conjunctional combination or so is inserted between the head noun week and the 's.

The teacher's room ~»• the teacher of music's room (R. Quirk et al,). - The prepositional combination of music is inserted between the head noun teacher and the 's.

The boy's brother —» the boy who lives across the street's brother (A. Hill). - The clause who lives across the street is inserted between the head noun boy and the 's.

(True, according to R. Quirk and his co-authors, the group genitive is not normally acceptable when the postmodifi cation is a clause.).

Hence, L.S. Barkhudarov draws the conclusion that the 's is neither a word nor a traditional morpheme. It is a specific

morpheme that can be attached not only to single words but occasionally also to combinations of words.

Different Approaches to the Study of Case

There are different approaches to the study of case as a morphological category. Many traditional studies have examined various uses of case. More recent work has been directed toward the analysis of the case systems of different languages. A great deal of research, early and late, has been devoted to an understanding of the evolution of case notions and of case morphemes.

For Ch.J. Fillmore and his adherents, case is not an element of the surface, but of the deep structure of a sentence. The deep (or basic) structure of a sentence, according to Ch.J. Fillmore, consists of a verb and one or more noun phrases, each associated with the verb in a particular syntactic-semantic (or case) relationship. ChJ. Fillmore singles out 7 semantic cases.

1. Agentive — the case of the typically animate instigator of the
action indicated by the verb, e.g.:

John opened the door (ChJ. Fillmore).

The door was opened by John(Ch.J. Fillmore).

2. Instrumental - the case of the inanimate force or object
involved in bringing about the action or state indicated by the verb,
e.g.:

The key opened the door (Ch.J, Fillmore).

John opened the door with the key(Ch.J. Fillmore).

John used the keyto open the door (ChJ. Fillmore).

3. Dative - the case of the animate being affected by the state
or action indicated by the verb, e.g.:

John believed that he would win (ChJ. Fillmore).

We persuaded John that he would win (ChJ. Fillmore).

It was apparent to Johnthat he would win (ChJ. Fillmore).

4. Factitive - the case of the object or being resulting from the
action or state indicated by the verb, e.g.:

John built the house(ChJ. Fillmore).

5. Locative - the case that identifies the location or spatial
orientation of the state or action indicated by the verb, e.g.:

Chicago is windy (ChJ. Fillmore).

It is windy in Chicago(ChJ. Fillmore).

6. Benefactive - the case of the typically animate being who
benefits from the action or state indicated by the verb, e.g.:

Jennie got skipping-ropes for the twinsthat day... (M. Spark).

7. Objective - the semantically most neutral case.
ChJ. Fillmore thinks that the concept of the objective case should
be limited to things which are affected by the action or state
indicated by the verb, e.g.:

John opened the door(ChJ. Fillmore).

The door was opened by John (ChJ. Fillmore).

The key opened the door(ChJ. Fillmore).

John opened the doorwith the key (ChJ. Fillmore).

John used the key to open the door(ChJ. Fillmore).

The door opened (ChJ. Fiflmore).

A semantic case may correspond to varying roles (or forms) in the surface structure. For instance, Locative in the sentence It is windy in Chicagocorresponds to an adverbial; while in the sentence Chicago is windy it is represented by the subject.

The number of semantic cases varies from author to author. R. Schank singles out 5 semantic cases, ChJ. Fillmore, W.L. Chafe, V.G. Gak and I.P. Susov - 7, D.G. Lockwood - 9, V.V. Bogdanov - 14, Y.D. Apressyan - 25. N.N. Leontyeva - 50. The higher the degree of detailization, the greater is the number of the singled out semantic cases. To determine the optimum degree of detailization is extremely difficult. However, one thing is clear: when the number of semantic cases grows indefinitely, the classification loses its definiteness and finally disappears.

A.P. Guminsky denies the central role of the verb in the sentence and places the noun in focus. In his opinion, there exist only two semantic cases: ucxodnu^uu and soMUKaiouiuu, e.g.:

John loves Mary(E.K. Brown, I.E. Miller).

The simplicity of the binary approach is tempting. But simplicity should not be an end in itself. The question arises: does it contribute to a better understanding of the semantic structure of the sentence? The answer is ^lNo\ The abstraction of the binary semantic case system is so high that it can hardly be successfully applied in the process of analysis without some detailization.

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Loans of Greek origin	\|	The Category of Number

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