Case

Case is a grammatical category that indicates the grammatical function of a word (such as the role of subject, of direct object, or of possessor) in a phrase or clause. As a syntactic rather than semantic notion, case marking is not directly represented in UNL, but only in the UNL-NL grammars.

Natural language

In the UNLarium, case must be informed only to the forms (such as English personal pronouns) still holding an inflectional case system.
The values for the case attribute are the following:

{{#tree:id=nl_case|openlevels=0|root=Case (CAS)|

• • abessive (ABE): lack or absence of
  • ablative (ABL): movement from or cause
  • accusative (ACC): direct object of a verb
  • allative (ALL): motion to or toward
  • absolutive (ABS): subject of intransitive verbs or object of transitive verbs in ergative-absolutive languages
  • benefactive (BEN): beneficiary
  • causative (CAU): cause
  • comitative (CMT): accompaniment
  • construct state (CTS)
  • dative (DAT): indirect object of a verb
  • delative (DEL): motion downward from
  • elative (ELA): motion out of or away from
  • equative (EQU): likeness or identity
  • ergative (ERG): subject of transitive verbs in ergative-absolutive languages
  • essive (ESS): temporary state
  • genitive (GNT): possessor
  • illative (ILL): motion into or direction toward
  • inessive (INE): location within
  • instrumental (INS): means of the accomplishment
  • lative (LAT): motion up to
  • locative (LOC): location at
  • nominative (NOM): subject of a finite verb
  • oblique (OBL): object of a verb or of a preposition
  • prolative (PLT): motion along or by
  • prepositional (PPL): object of a preposition
  • partitive (PTT): partial nature of
  • superessive (SPE): location on
  • translative (TLT): result of a process of change
  • vocative (VOC): being addressed

}}

Examples

• English
  • nominative (NOM): I ("I saw him")
  • genitive (GNT): my ("my house")
  • oblique (OBL): me ("He saw me")
• Latin
  • nominative (NOM): nauta ("nauta ibi stat" = the sailor is standing here)
  • genitive (GNT): nautae ("nomen nautae est Claudius" = the sailor's name is Claudius)
  • dative (DAT): nautae ("nautae donum dedi" = I gave a present to the sailor)
  • accusative (ACC): nautam ("nautam vidi" = I saw the sailor)
  • ablative (ABL): nautā ("sum altior nautā" = I am taller than the sailor)