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Case in Tiers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

Moira Yip ,
Joan Maling  and
Ray Jackendoff
Moira Yip
Affiliation:
Brandeis University
Joan Maling
Affiliation:
Brandeis University
Ray Jackendoff
Affiliation:
Brandeis University
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Abstract

This paper presents a theory of surface case which bears a strong formal similarity to autosegmental theory in phonology and morphology. We suggest that surface case forms a tier which is autonomous of phrase structure—and which is associated with NP's of the PS tier by general principles analogous to those which associate tones with segments, or phonemic melodies with CV skeleta. We show that this theory permits parameterization of a variety of case systems, and thus provides some insight into how case might be characterized in Universal Grammar. The theory permits, most strikingly, a unification of Accusative and Ergative systems under one simple parameter, and explanation of the mysterious appearance of postverbal nominative case in the passives of certain Icelandic ditransitive verbs.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , June 1987 , pp. 217 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 Linguistic Society of America

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Footnotes

*

This work was partly supported by National Science Foundation grant IST-8420073. We would like to thank a number of people for their help with this paper, including Kristján Árnason, Jane Grimshaw, Junko Ito, Beth Levin, K. P. Mohanan, David Nash, Henk van Riemsdijk, Halldór Á. Sigurðsson, Jane Simpson, and Höskuldur Thráinsson. The authors maintain that all remaining errors are the fault of each other.

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