Linguist Teaching : MORPHOLOGY (CASE SYSTEM)

CASE SYSTEM

A.       THE DEFINITION

Charles Fillmore was one of the first linguists to introduce a representation of linguistic knowledge that blurred this strong distinction between syntactic and semantic knowledge of a language. He introduced what was termed case structure grammar and this representation subsequently had considerable influence on both psychologists as well as computational linguists.

Crystal (Ba’dulu, 2004: 78) stated case as a grammatical category used in the analysis of word classes to define the syntactic relationships between words in a sentence. Meanwhile, Kridalaksana (Ba’dulu, 2004: 78) supposed that case is a grammatical category of noun or adjective showing its relationship with other words in a syntactic construction.

According to Tarigan (2009: 54), case is a grammatical category that specifies the function of a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. The form of the noun or noun phrase changes to show the functions or different cases.

For examples, in German:

Ursula kaufte einen neuen Tisch.

‘Ursula membeli sebuah meja baru.’

Ursula bought a new table.

It shows that in the noun phrase einen Neuen Tisch, an article ein and an adjective neu  has the suffix –en to show that the noun phrase is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb kaufte.

In the sentence:

Der Tisch ist sehr groz.

‘Meja itu (adalah) amat besar.’

The table is very big.

Noun phrase der Tisch, this article has a suffix –er to indicate that the phrase is in nominative case of noun, and it is the subject of the verb ist. German has four cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. Some languages have more or less cases, and some others don't even have any at all. In those languages, the functions of the word orders or the prepositions show the cases.

In English, nouns can be distinguished by two cases, namely:

a.    The Unmarked Common Case

Example: boy (singular) and boys (plural)

b.    The Marked Genitive Case

Example: boy’s (singular) and boys’ (plural)

The genetive case has some senses :

1. possessive: My wife’s father.                             My wife has a father

Mrs. Johnson’s pasport.               Mrs. Johnson has a pasport         

2. subjective:  The boy’s application.                   The boy applies for ...

                          Her parents’ consent                     Her parents consent...

3. objective:   the family’s support                                     (...) supports the family.

                        The boy’s release.                           (...) releases the boy.

4. original: the girl’s story                                        the girl tells a story.

                        The general’s letter                          the general writes a letter.

5. descriptive: a woman’s college                         a college of women

                        A doctor’s degree.                            A doctoral degree.

6. measurement: ten day’s absence.                   The absence lasted ten days.

7. atributive: the victim’s courage.                        The victim has courage.

                                                                                    The victim is courageous

8. partitive: the baby’s eyes                                    the baby has ( blue)  eyes.

Grammatical case (Case Grammar) is a modification of the theory of generative transformation grammar that re-introduces the conceptual framework of the relations of cases from traditional grammar, but nurture and maintain the distinction between the deep structure and the surface structure of the generative transformation grammar, “in” semantics implies the depth here.

Based on the above explanation, a case grammar is an approach to grammar that gives emphasis on the semantic relationships in a sentence. In the case grammar, verbs are considered as important parts of the sentences and have some semantic relationships with the noun phrases. These relationships are called the case.

example:
Smith killed the policeman with a revolver.

This revolver killed the policeman.

It is clear that with a revolver and this revolver contain different syntactic functions, but their relationships with the verb kill is the same. This revolver is an instrument for the action verb. That is why with a revolver and this revolver are called the instrumental cases. Other cases that exist in the sentence above are: agentive (the actor, Smith), and dative (the policeman receives the action).

B.       Case category

1.    Agentive Case

It is the case on a noun or noun phrase that refers to people or animals that perform or initiate actions.

Example: Tom pruned the roses.

                  “Tom memangkas mawar.”

Tom is in the agentive.

But the subject of the verb does not always need to be in the agentive case. In the sentence:

                 Tom loves roses.

                 “Tom menyayangi mawar.”

Tom does not do any action, but his attitude toward the rose is called. Tom, in this sentence, is not in the agentive case, but he is  in the dative case. This will be discussed in the next category.

2.    Benefactive Case

It is the case on the noun or noun phrase that refers to people or animals that have benefited from the action verbs. In the English language, the benefactive case is preceded by the preposition “for”.

Example: Tom did it for Huck.

                  “Tom melakukan itu untuk Huck.”

Huck is in the benefactive case.

                  John baked a cake for Louise.

                  “John membakar kue untuk Luise.”

                  John baked Louise a cake.

                  “John membakarkan Louise kue.”

Louise is in the benefactive case.

The  preposition "for" in  benefactive case in Indonesian can be seen as follows:

Untuk       Dia bekerja keras untuk keluarganya.

Bagi         Kami berjuang bagi nusa dan bangsa.

Buat         Saya mencari uang buat anak saya.

Demi        Ibu menabung demi kami sekeluarga.

3.    Comitative case

It is a case in a noun phrase that bears a conjunctive relationship with another noun phrase in a sentence. In English, it is associated with the preposition “with”.

Example:             Tom ran away with Huck.

                              “Tom melarikan diri dengan Huck.”

                              Tom and Huck ran away.

                              “Tom dan Huck melarikan diri.”

The  preposition "with" is in comitative case, in Indonesian this case can be seen as follows:

Dengan               Roni berdagang mobil dengan Budi.

Bersama             Amir menjual rumah itu bersama Ludin.

Dan                      Roni dan Budi berdagang mobil.

                              Amin dan Ludin menjual rumah itu.

4.    Dative Case

It is a case of the noun or noun phrase that refers to a person or an animal that is affected by state or action verbs.

Example:                         Gregory was frightened by storm.

                              “Gregory ditakut-takuti oleh angin topan.”

                              (George ketakutan melihat angin topan)

                              I persuaded Tom to go.

                              “Saya membujuk Tom pergi.”

Gregory and Tom are in the dative case. Both Tom and Gregory are influenced by something. Gregory is intimidated (by the storm) and Tom experienced persuasion. This case is also called an experience case. In Indonesian, the  preposition "to" in  comitative case can be seen as follows:      

Kepada               Saya menunjukkan kesetiaan kepada isteri saya.                          Saya setia kepada isteri saya.

Terhadap            Kami berbakti terhadap negara.

                              Kami mempersembahkan bakti terhadap negara.

For example, in Deutch:

                              Sie gab der Katze eine Schale Milch.

                              She gave the cat a dish (of) milk.

                              “Dia memberi kucing itu sepiring susu.”

In the noun phrase der Katze, the article has an inflectional suffix-er to show that the noun phrase is in the dative case because it is the indirect object of the verb phrase.

5.    Factitive Case

It is a case in a phrase or a noun phrase that refers to something that is made or created by the action verb.

Example:               Tony built the shed.

                                “Tony membangun bangsal.”

The shed is in the case of factitive. On the other sentence:

                                Tony repaired the shed.

                                “Tony memugar bangsal.”

The shed is not located in factitive case because the shed had been there when restoration was carried out. In this sentence, the shed is in the objective case. Factitive Case is also called result/resultative case.

Compare!

Factitive                                                  Objective

1.    Saya membeli mobil                       Saya memperbaiki mobil.

2.    Bibi melahirkan seorang                 Bibi mengangkat seorang anak laki-laki.                                                 anak laki-laki.

3.    Dia mengarang cerita pendek       saya meresensi cerita pendek

“Lari.”                                                  “Lari.”

6.    Objective Case

It is the case in the noun or noun phrase that refers to anyone or anything that has a neutral relationship to the action verbs. Noun or noun phrase in the objective case has no action, it does not act, nor is the instrument /equipment / means of action.

Examples:           They sliced the sausage with a knife.

“Mereka mengiris sosis itu dengan pisau.”

The sausage sliced easily.

“sosis itu teriris dengan mudah.”

The sausage was thick.

“sosis itu tebal.”

The sausage is not the agent (such as they or theirs), nor the instrument (such as a knife), but it is in the objective case.

The notion of the objective case is that it has everything to do with the traditional sense of the object. However, not everything that is in the objective case can be an object and not all objects can be considered to be in the objective case.

7.    Ergatif Case

This case is a causative case which refers to the syntactic relation that exists between two sentences.

Example:                         The raft moved.

“Rakit itu bergerak.”

John moved the raft.

“John menggerakkan rakit itu.”     

John is the subject ergatif, the agent or cause of action. In Indonesian, the ergatif case can be seen as follows:

1.    Wanita itu sakit hati.

Badu menyakiti hati wanita itu.

2.    Mobil itu berjalan.

Joko menjalankan mobil itu.

3.    Rumah itu dikunci.

Nenek mengunci rumah itu.  

8.    Instrumental Case

It is about an inanimate instrument which is the cause of an action or a state expressed by the verb. In English, the verb is followed by  the preposition “with”.  

Example:             Mary opened the drawer with the key.

                              “Mary membuka laci itu dengan kunci.”

                              The drawer was opened with the key by Mary.

                              “Laci itu dibuka dengan kunci oleh Mary.”

                              The key opened the drawer.

                              “Kunci membuka laci itu.”

The key is in the instrumental case. In Indonesian, the instrumental case  can be seen as follows:

1.    Nenek membungkus nangka dengan goni.

2.    Saya mengirim berita itu dengan telegram.

3.    Dengan gunting dia potong kain itu.

9.    Locative Case

It is the case on a noun or noun phrase that refers to the location/ site of the action verb.

Example:                         Irene put the magazines on the table.

“Irene menaruh majalah itu di atas meja.”

The table is in the locative case. In English, it can be seen by using of prepositions: on, in, at, and from. In Indonesian, it can be seen by the use of prepositions: di, ke, and dari.

Example:

1.    Eli menaruh buku itu di lemari.

2.    Nenek datang dari Medan.

3.    Paman pergi ke Bandung.

C.       Conclusion

Grammatical case or case grammar, which is a modification of the  generative transformation grammar, gives emphasis on the semantic relationships in a sentence. Verbs are considered as an important part of the sentence and have some semantic relationships with the noun phrases. These relationships are called the case,and there are nine case categories, namely: agentive, benefactive, comitative, dative, factitive, objective, ergatif, instrumental and locative cases.

Not all languages have grammatical cases, but those that have the cases have their own grammatical rules which are different one another as they are given as examples (English, German, and Indonesian languages) in this article.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arifin, Zaenal and Junaiyah. 2007. Morfologi: Bentuk, Makna, dan Fungsi. Jakarta: Gramedia

Ba’dulu, Abdul Muis and Herman. 2005. Morfosintaksis. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.

Sofwan, Ahmad. 2011. Bahan Ajar Morfosintaksis. Diponegoro University.

Tarigan, Henry Guntur. 2009. Pengajaran Tata Bahasa Kasus. Bandung: Angkasa.

http://www2.unej.ac.id/fakultas/sastra/jurnal/vol-3/haryono.pdf