Cases And Case Markers: Introduction

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INTRODUCTION

One of the more dreaded things while learning other languages are cases. This is especially true if you are a native English speaker because English by itself does not really have cases. Well, that would be misleading as all languages do have some cases. Cases are simply forms of words that express what they do in a sentence. Rather, what I mean is that while English does have cases, it fails to explicitly mark them except in pronouns. In other words, English does not have explicit case markers and thus, is a case marker-poor language.

CASES

First, what are cases? While a computer may know a million words more than us, it cannot speak naturally unless it is programmed to do so. On the other hand, Scrabble players often know thousands of words more than an average Joe, but they may not know the meaning of the words or sometimes, even the language itself! A five-year-old will beat us in a language speaking competition even if we knew all the words, but not the grammar. What is it that we lack? 

Simply put, we lack syntax. Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases so that the sentence makes sense. Take the following sentences:

Poor syntax | The cat black yesterday the tuna bluefin ate.
Good syntax | The black cat ate the bluefin tuna yesterday.

Which of the two sentences make more sense? Naturally, the second one has way better arrangement than the previous one because it has a better syntax. Since English is a case marker-poor language, syntax is very important in order to make sense of a sentence. In linguistic terms, this ‘making sense of a sentence’ is known as semantics. Thus, semantics is concerned with the meaning of a sentence. However, what if I told you that we can reduce the influence of phrasing well if we introduce something called case markers?

Look at the same sentences again and notice that each word is doing something. In languages, these words can be categorised in such a way that we can know what the word does in a sentence in relation to the other words in the sentence. For example, the cat is doing an action of ‘eating’. The tuna is being ‘eaten’. In each instance, we are able to know each component is doing, because we understand what where they are. In languages that inflect words to show what case it is, we can get rid of this stricter phrasing, because the language marks each word and tells us what each component is doing. Thus, cases are those forms of words that express the semantic relation of a word with other words in a sentence.

CASE MARKERS

Now, it has already been established that English does not mark cases explicitly. For example in the sentences below, the lack of marking cases can lead to absurd sentences. Take the following pair of sentences:

Proper | The cat ate the fish. [normal]
Confusing | The fish ate the cat. [what?]

In English, the meanings are derived from the specific arrangement of words. However, what if if we could use certain markings to denote that the cat is always the one doing the action? Conversely, what if we could say that the fish is always the one receiving the action? In German, for example, the sentence “the cat ate the fish” can be denoted as (subject in bold):

Die Katze aß den Fisch.
Den Fisch aß die Katze.

Somehow, they both have identical meanings despite switching the subject and the object! Why is it so? That is because German marked the subject and the object explicitly such that the relationship between the words is self-evident. There is no need for a rigid word structure!

Thus, (short) markers that denote the case of the word it is attached to are called case markers.

German uses articles to indicate the case; Nepali does not have articles of sort. Instead, it uses postpositional markers, or markers that are used after the word ends to denote case. These are the case markers in Nepali.

The case marker appears at the end attached with the word. If English did the same with prepositions, the phrase ‘in America’ would be written as ‘America in’. Since case markers are always concatenated with the word (they are placed together and not separate), such a phrase would be written as ‘Americain’.

NEPALI CASES

Each case comes with its own case marker, but case markers may be shared for different cases. Traditionally, Nepali grammar is based on Sanskrit grammar which had eight total cases. However, Nepali currently has at least seven cases, which by no means is tiny but the truth is that cases share a number of case markers common to each other. Furthermore, Nepali does not mark certain cases explicitly (only under certain conditions), relying rather on syntax to convey sense.

Now, what are the at-least-seven cases? Cases are called कारक (kārak) in Nepali. I think the names in Nepali are not important to know, but I’ll include them anyway for educational purposes. Remember that cases are not their case markers. Cases are rather what we call ‘subjects’ and ‘objects’ in everyday sense.

  • Nominative case
  • Ergative case
  • Accusative case
  • Instrumental case
  • Dative case
  • Ablative case
  • Genitive case
  • Locative case

Note | It is not important to know the cases and their names by heart, but rather recognize when to use what case marker in a sentence.

Nominative case

The nominative case, also called कर्ता (kartā), shows the doer of an action. This case is called as the subject of a sentence, since it does the action. For example, the nominative case is highlighted in bold below:

The man cut the fish with a knife.

Nominative cases are unmarked in Nepali.

Ergative case

The ergative case shows a nominal phrase as the agent of a transitive verb, but not in intransitive aspects. This can get technical, which we will explore later in the lesson Case Marker: Le. For example, the ergative case is highlighted in bold below:

The man cut the fish with a knife.

In Nepali, ergative cases are marked with ले (le) under certain situations. Often times, the line that divides the nominative and the ergative cases seems to be a bit unclear in Nepali, as Nepali has a rather unique way of dealing with this.

Accusative case

The accusative case, also called कर्म (karma),shows the direct receiver of an action. In order words, it is the recipient of the action directly such the action affects it. This case is called as the object of a sentence, since it receives the action. For example, the accusative case is highlighted in bold below:

The man cut the fish with a knife.

In Nepali, accusative cases are marked with लाई (lāī) in certain situations. Other times, it is not marked at all.

Instrumental case

The instrumental case, also called करण (karaṇ), shows means by which an action is done or accomplished. In order words, it is the mode through which an action is achieved. For example, the instrumental case along with its case marker is highlighted in bold below:

The man cut the fish with a knife.

In Nepali, instrumental cases are marked with either ले (le), बाट (bāṭa) or द्वारा (dwārā).

Dative case

The dative case, also called सम्प्रदान (sampradān), shows the indirect receiver of an action. It shows to whom or what something is given. Thus, as the indirect object or receiver, the action affects it but indirectly. For example, the dative case along with its case marker is highlighted in bold below:

I gave the book to a student.

In Nepali, dative cases are marked with लाई (lāī).

Ablative case

The ablative case, also called अपादान (apādān), shows the motion away from something. For example, the ablative case along with its case marker is highlighted in bold below:

He came from Mexico.

In Nepali, ablative cases are marked with either देखि (dekhi) or बाट (bāṭa).

Genitive case

The genitive case, also called समबन्ध (sambandha), shows the relationship of possession, composition, origin etc. between two words. The relationship between these two elements are thus made known. This is the equivalent of using -’s in English. For example, the genitive case along with its case marker is highlighted in bold below:

This car’s paint is red.

In Nepali, genitive cases are marked with either को (ko), रो (ro), नो (no) and their forms depending on the word used.

Locative case

The locative case, also called अधिकरण (adhikaraṇ),shows where the action or event takes place. English uses prepositions but Nepali uses case markers to denote the location of the action. For example, the locative case along with its case marker is highlighted in bold below:

The party in your house was nice.

In Nepali, locative cases are marked with मा (mā).

POSITIONING OF CASE MARKERS

The case markers appear at the end of the case and are written together (and not separate). For example, let’s use the locative case mā:

In house

The equivalent translation using English syntax would be:

मा घर (mā ghar)

Since case markers must appear after the case, the correct Nepali syntax would be:

घर मा (ghar mā)

They are not written separately, so conjoining them gives us the final correct form:

घरमा (ghar-mā)*
= In house

Note | *I use a hyphen in the transliteration to indicate a conjoined word of case + case marker. This is purely editorial and no hyphen is actually used. This is done so that the case marker is much more clear and distinct in the transliteration. I also do the same with harū and a few other words.

OBLIQUING

When some case markers are added to certain pronouns, the pronouns changes form with an accompanying sound modifications. This is called obliquing. You can read more about it in The Oblique Form Of Pronouns.

SUMMARY

  • Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases so that the sentence makes sense.
  • Semantics is concerned with the meaning of a sentence. 
  • Cases are those forms of words that express the semantic relation of a word with other words in a sentence.
  • The (short) markers that denote the case of the word it is attached to are called case markers.
  • There are eight cases in Nepali: nominative, ergative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative.
  • The nominative case, also called कर्ता (kartā),shows the doer of an action. The nominative is unmarked in Nepali.
  • The ergative case shows a nominal phrase as the agent of a transitive verb, but not in intransitive aspects. Ergativev cases are marked with ले (le) in certain situations.
  • The accusative case, also called कर्म (karma),shows the direct receiver of an action. Accusative cases are marked with लाई (lāī) in certain situations.
  • The instrumental case, also called करण (karaṇ),shows means by which an action is done or accomplished. Instrumental cases are marked with either ले (le), बाट (bāṭa) or द्वारा (dwārā).
  • The dative case, also called सम्प्रदान (sampradān),shows the indirect receiver of an action. Dative cases are marked with लाई (lāī).
  • The ablative case, also called अपादान (apādān),shows the motion away from something. In Nepali, ablative cases are marked with either देखि (dekhi) or बाट (bāṭa).
  • The genitive case, also called समबन्ध (sambandha),shows the relationship of possession, composition, origin etc. between two words. In Nepali, genitive cases are marked with either को (ko), रो (ro), नो (no) and their forms depending on the word used.
  • The locative case, also called अधिकरण (adhikaraṇ),shows where the action or event takes place. In Nepali, locative cases are marked with मा (mā).
  • The case markers appear at the end of the case and are written together (and not separate).

EXERCISES

A. CORRECTLY IDENTIFY THE NOMINATIVE, THE ACCUSATIVE AND THE DATIVE CASES IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES, IF APPLICABLE.

1. He went fishing yesterday.
2. I am giving him a gift.
3. You sent me a letter.
4. Mary ate her favourite food.
5. John cut the paper.

B. ARE THE FOLLOWING CASES CORRECTLY MARKED? CORRECT IF NECESSARY. 

Mary (nominative) wrote to him (genitive) a letter (dative) with a pen (instrumental) but I (accusative) received it (accusative) instead. The postal office of Kathmandu (genitive) is really sloppy indeed! Mary (dative) came from New Zealand (locative) and she (instrumental) now lives in China (ablative). I (dative) hope to give her (nominative) a present (genitive) myself (dative)!

C. CORRECTLY IDENTIFY THE CASES IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES.

1. With a high-energy particle beam accelerator, the scientists at CERN discovered a new particle.
2. I had to go visit the hospital yesterday.
3. Did the cat eat the fish? 
4. I did not know that people ate cooked snails in France.
5. Can you give me a pen?
6. From infinity and beyond…

ANSWERS

A.1. He (nominative) went fishing yesterday.
A.2. I (nominative) am giving him (dative) a gift (accusative).
A.3. You (nominative) sent me (dative) a letter (accusative).
A.4. Mary (nominative) ate her favourite food (accusative).
A.5. John (nominative) cut the paper (accusative).
B. Mary (nominative) wrote to him (dative) a letter (accusative) with a pen (instrumental) but I (nominative) received it (accusative) instead. The postal office of Kathmandu (genitive) is really sloppy indeed! Mary (nominative) came from New Zealand (ablative) and she (nominative) now lives in China (locative). I (nominative) hope to give her (dative) a present (accusative) myself (instrumental)!
C.1. With a high-energy particle beam accelerator (instrumental), the scientists (nominative) of CERN (genitive) discovered a new particle (accusative).
C.2. I (nominative) had to do work (accusative) yesterday.
C.3. Did the cat (nominative) eat the fish (accusative)?
C.4. I (nominative) did not know that people (nominative) ate cooked snails (accusative) in France (locative).
C.5. Can you (nominative) give me (dative) a pen (accusative)?
C.6. From infinity (ablative) and beyond…