The Genitive Rule and its background
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Peter Gallmann
Abstract
In the German Language, there are two types of rules that determine whether a DP/NP may bear genitive case or not. The type I rules handle the case assignment as in other languages with morphological case, including a visibility condition for the genitive case. The type II rules refer to the DP/NP-internal feature distribution. The interaction of these rules can be formulated as a corollary, the Genitive Rule. Since the type II rules are merely descriptive generalizations, the question arises to what extent the Genitive Rule really covers the diverse constructions with genitive case. On the whole, the Genitive Rule seems to predict the distribution of the genitive constructions and their competitors with other cases correctly. Nonetheless, two deviations are to be expected (and can be observed): (i) A construction is grammatical in spite of violating the Genitive Rule; (ii) a construction is ungrammatical in spite of complying with the Genitive Rule. In both circumstances a second question arises: Which factors trigger the unexpected behavior?
Abstract
In the German Language, there are two types of rules that determine whether a DP/NP may bear genitive case or not. The type I rules handle the case assignment as in other languages with morphological case, including a visibility condition for the genitive case. The type II rules refer to the DP/NP-internal feature distribution. The interaction of these rules can be formulated as a corollary, the Genitive Rule. Since the type II rules are merely descriptive generalizations, the question arises to what extent the Genitive Rule really covers the diverse constructions with genitive case. On the whole, the Genitive Rule seems to predict the distribution of the genitive constructions and their competitors with other cases correctly. Nonetheless, two deviations are to be expected (and can be observed): (i) A construction is grammatical in spite of violating the Genitive Rule; (ii) a construction is ungrammatical in spite of complying with the Genitive Rule. In both circumstances a second question arises: Which factors trigger the unexpected behavior?
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
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Introductory overview
- Genitives in Germanic 3
-
Portraits of lesser studied languages
- A new perspective on the Luxembourgish genitive 15
- Frisian genitives 37
-
Genitive markers and their destinies
- On the motivation of genitive‑ s omission in Contemporary German 65
- From genitive suffix to linking element 91
- The development of non-paradigmatic linking elements in Faroese and the decline of the genitive case 115
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‘Genitives’ in nominal configurations
- The Genitive Rule and its background 149
- From genitive inflection to possessive marker? 189
- Yiddish possessives as a case for genitive case 231
-
Genitives and their functional competitors
- Genitives and proper name compounds in German 275
- On the role of cases and possession in Germanic 301
- Index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introductory overview
- Genitives in Germanic 3
-
Portraits of lesser studied languages
- A new perspective on the Luxembourgish genitive 15
- Frisian genitives 37
-
Genitive markers and their destinies
- On the motivation of genitive‑ s omission in Contemporary German 65
- From genitive suffix to linking element 91
- The development of non-paradigmatic linking elements in Faroese and the decline of the genitive case 115
-
‘Genitives’ in nominal configurations
- The Genitive Rule and its background 149
- From genitive inflection to possessive marker? 189
- Yiddish possessives as a case for genitive case 231
-
Genitives and their functional competitors
- Genitives and proper name compounds in German 275
- On the role of cases and possession in Germanic 301
- Index 325
