Case

Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics

by Barry J. Blake

This book is a concise and accessible introduction to the ways in which relations between words in sentences are marked in languages. The author describes the systems of suffixes familiar from languages like Latin and also the roles of prepositions, postpositions and the use of the pronominal elements on verbs. This new edition incorporates expanded discussions of the key concepts, taking into consideration current developments in the field, and includes an updated section on abstract case in the Chomskyian paradigm.

Genres: Linguistics, Language

248 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 1994

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Reviews

[A. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Case as a grammatical phenomenon fascinates me. In the languages which I am most closely acquainted with -- case is either all-pervading or almost completely absent. I am interested in what repercussions an analysis of case could have for philosophy. This was a good introduction to the subject and seemed comprehensive to me.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

At once too opaque and incomplete. Undue focus on Romance and Australian languages for which the reader is not compensated by the meager attention paid to developments in languages of other families. While it occasionally prods the layman to consider unexamined aspects of case, I can't recommend it as a jumping off point for further inquiry. I'll just have to pick up another work unguided by this one.