No abstract

No abstract

In this paper I propose a generalized case theory, a theory which is general in the sense that it allows different though consistent instaniations, one of which is shown to be English, another German. These two languages are the main object of comparison, but the system is also shown to bear on phenomena in Dutch and Norwegian (and in principle on any language). What is important, however, is that this proposal which is firmly rooted in the framework of Chomsky (1981), is able to improve on the case system presented by Chomsky by taking seriously the difference between structural and lexical (oblique) case. The conceptual improvements are the reduction of absorption, the Extended Projection Principle, and Burzio's generalization to two independently necessary principles. The empirical improvements are demonstrated by the analysis of the German case system. Last but not least, this approach offers a new insight into the connections between 0-marking and case-marking and their implementation in sentence structure.

No abstract

No abstract