Universal #375
Legacy number: 375
| Number | 374 |
| Original | It is impossible for minimal case systems to include, in addition to the basic general case, only a single further case exclusively marking noun phrases in construction with (adverbial/grammatical) adpositions. |
| Standardized | IF there is a case exclusively marking noun phrases in construction with adpositions, THEN there will be still further cases in addition to a basic general case. |
| Keywords | case, adpositional case |
| Domain | inflection |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | unspecified |
| Source | Plank 1985: 229f |
Discussion
Counterexamples
Bare (Arawak) (Aikhenwald 1995a: 14-15);Warekena (Arawak) (Aikhenwald 1995b), similarly most other Arawak languages.
Notes
It follows that a case governed by a postposition cannot be the first non-basic case in the rise of a case system in any language, nor the last non-basic case in the demise of case systems. The case discussed by Plank is English genitival s: on the assumption that it is a postposition (rather than a case suffix), the question arises why genitival s unlike plural s ceased to govern a segmental voicing alternation of certain nouns (wife / wive-s). Plank’s suggestion is that such voicing would have had the status of a case marking governed by a possessive postposition s.
Comment
It follows that a case governed by a postposition cannot be the first non-basic case in the rise of a case system in any language, nor the last non-basic case in the demise of case systems. The case discussed by Plank is English genitival s: on the assumption that it is a postposition (rather than a case suffix), the question arises why genitival s unlike plural s ceased to govern a segmental voicing alternation of certain nouns (wife / wive-s). Plank's suggestion is that such voicing would have had the status of a case marking governed by a possessive postposition s.
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