Cover not available

In:Non-Canonically Case-Marked Subjects: The Reykjavík-Eyjafjallajökull papers
Edited by Jóhanna Barðdal, Na'ama Pat-El and Stephen Mark Carey
[Studies in Language Companion Series 200] 2018
► pp. 115–132

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Chapter 5
Dative case and oblique subjects

 | University at Buffalo, The State University of New York | Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Published online: 2 November 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.200.05van
Abstract
Oblique subjects often occur in the dative case in many languages, and given that dative subjects frequently co-occur with experiential verbs, this has led to the view that dative signals ‘experiencer’, along with its ‘recipient’ meaning with verbs of giving. There are, however, many other uses of the dative which do not fall into either of these categories. This article argues that when one considers the full range of uses of the dative case across languages, it becomes clear that the dative is not associated with any particular grammatical function or with any particular meaning or thematic role. Because of the lack of any consistent grammatical function or meaning, it will be argued that dative is a default case, a kind of ‘elsewhere’ case, which is assigned when no other case rules can apply (Silverstein 1976, 1993). The appearance of a consistent semantics for some uses of the dative, e.g. marking experiencers, could be analyzed as the result of the blocking of the nominative rule to indicate deviation from the transitive prototype. An analysis of these phenomena in terms of Role and Reference Grammar is presented. Further evidence for the lack of an inherent meaning for the dative comes from alternations involving the case marking of causees in monoclausal causative constructions.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Dative subjects and beyond
  • 3.Types of case
  • 4.The Role and Reference Grammar approach to dative case assignment
  • 5.Case marking and agentivity
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • References
References (33)
References
Barðdal, Jóhanna. 2001. Case in Icelandic: A Synchronic, Diachronic and Comparative Approach [Lundastudier i Nordisk språkvetenskap A 57]. Lund: Department of Scandinavian Languages, Lund University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. The semantics of the impersonal construction in Icelandic, German and Faroese: Beyond thematic roles. In Focus on Germanic Typology, Werner Abraham (ed.), 105–137. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011a. The rise of dative substitution in the history of Icelandic: A diachronic construction grammar account. Lingua 121: 60–79.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011b. Lexical vs. structural case: A false dichotomy. Morphology 21(3–4): 619–659.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bills, Garland, Vallejo, Bernardo & Troike, Rudolph. 1969. An Introduction to Spoken Bolivian Quechua. Austin TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blake, Barry. 2001. Case, 2nd edn. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Butt, Miriam. 2006. Theories of Case. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Czepluch, Hartmut. 1996. Kasus im Deutschen und Englischen. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dixon, Robert M. W. 1972. The Dyirbal Language of North Queensland. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Donohue, Cathryn. 2007. Complex predicates in Basque. In On Interpreting Construction Schemas: From Action and Motion to Transitivity and Causation, Nicole Delbecque & Bert Cornillie (eds), 125–142. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haider, Hubert. 1989. Datives in German ECM-constructions. In Grammar in Progress, J. Mascaro & M. Nespor (eds), 173–187. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holisky, Dee Ann. 1987. The case of the intransitive subject in Tsova-Tush (Batsbi). Lingua 71: 103–132.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul & Thompson, Sandra A. 1980. Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language 56: 251–99.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jónsson, Jóhannes Gísli. 1997–98. Sagnir með aukafallsfrumlagi (Verbs with oblique subjects). Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði 19–20: 11–43.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Joppen, Sandra & Wunderlich, Dieter. 1995. Argument linking in Basque. Lingua 97: 123–169.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuno, Susumo. 1973. The Structure of the Japanese Language. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malchukov, Andrej. 2018. Forty years in search of a/the subject. In Non-Canonically Case-Marked Subjects: The Reykjavík–Eyjafjallajökull Papers, Jóhanna Barðdal, Na’ama Pat-El & Stephen Mark Carey (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (this volume)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maling, Joan. 2002. Það rignir þágufalli á Íslandi (Verbs with dative objects in Icelandic). Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði 24: 31–105.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Minger, David. 2002. An Analysis of Grammatical Relations and Case Marking in Icelandic. MA thesis, University of California, Davis. <[URL]>
Næss, Åshild. 2009. Varieties of dative. In The Handbook of Case, Andrej Malchukov & Andrew Spencer (eds), 572–80. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael. 1976. Hierarchy of features and ergativity. In Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages, Robert M. W. Dixon (ed.), 112–171. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1981. Case marking and the nature of language. Australian Journal of Linguistics 1: 227–246.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1993. Of nominatives and datives: Universal grammar from the bottom up. In Advances in Role and Reference Grammar [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 82], Robert Van Valin Jr. (ed.), 465–498. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sridhar, Shikaripur N. 1976. Dative subjects. CLS 12: 582–93.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thráinsson, Höskuldur. 2007. The Syntax of Icelandic. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Valin Jr., Robert D. 1990. Semantic parameters of split intransitivity. Language 66: 221–260.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1991. Another look at Icelandic case marking and grammatical relations. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 9:145–94.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2005. Exploring the Syntax-semantics Interface. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2009. Case in Role and Reference Grammar. In The Handbook of Case, Andrej Malchukov & Andrew Spencer (eds), 102–120. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Valin Jr., Robert D. & LaPolla, Randy J. 1997. Syntax: Structure, Meaning and Function. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Valin, Robert D. Jr., & Wilkins, David. 1996. The case for ‘effector’: Case roles, agents and agency revisited. In Grammatical constructions, Masayoshi Shibatani & Sandra A. Thompson (eds), 289–322. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wegener, Heide. 1991. Der Dativ – ein struktureller Kasus? In Merkmale und Strukturen syntaktischer Kategorien, Gisbert Fanselow & Sascha Felix (eds), 70–103. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zaenen, Annie, Maling, Joan & Thráinsson, Höskuldur. 1985. Case and grammatical functions: The Icelandic passive. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 3: 441–483.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Fabrizio, Claudia
2025. Alignment and Subjecthood in Latin, DOI logo
Rodríguez Guerra, Alexandre
2023. Prototipicidade, marcaxe prepositiva e suxeito no galego medieval. Revista Galega de Filoloxía 24 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue