Case

Case is a formal category of noun which defines its relations to other lexical units.

Old E. – four cases distinguished by inflections: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative.

Present-day E – inflections have been much reduced and their role as syntactic markers has
been taken over by word order and function words.

Genitive
-‘s
– traditional grammar – a case inflection
- modern approaches to grammar – a clitic

Categorization of genitive meanings

(1)

Possessive genitives
My wife’s father – My wife has a father.
The gravity of the earth – The earth has (a certain) gravity.
Subjective genitives
The boy’s application – The boy applied for [something].
The decline of trade – Trade declined.
Objective genitives
The boy’s release – (...) released the boy.
A statement of the facts – (...) stated the facts.
Genitives of origin
The general’s letter – The general wrote a letter.
The wines of France – France produces wines.
Descriptive genitives
A women’s college – a college for women
The degree of doctor – a doctoral degree, a doctorate

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Genitives of measure
ten days’ absence – The absence lasted ten days.
an absence of ten days – The absence lasted ten days.
Genitives of attribute
The victim’s courage – The victim had courage / was courageous.
The policy of the party – The party has a (certain) policy.
Partitive genitives
the baby’s eyes – The baby has (blue) eyes.
the surface of the earth – The earth has a (rough) surface.

Quirk et al. (1985:321-322)

(2)

X is kin to Y (Kinship)
Peter’s father – Peter is kin to his father
X has (a/..) Y (Possessive)
Peter’s car – Peter has a car
Y is part of X (Partitive)
Hazel’s head – The head is a part of Hazel
X Verb (Y) (Subjective)
Her parents’ consent – Her parents consented
[someone] Verb (Y) X (Objective)
The boy’s release – [someone] released the boy
X has Y at their disposal, X makes use of Y (Disposal)
Peter’s doctor – Peter has the doctor at his disposal
(the) Y in X, (the Y for X), ... (Time & Space)
Detroit’s cold streets – the cold streets in Detroit
Tomorrow’s weather – the weather for tomorrow
X is Adj (Y) (Attribute)
The victim’s courage – the victim is courageous
X produces/tells/writes... Y (Origin)

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The general’s letter – the general wrote a letter

(Kreyer 2003:178)

The choice between the inflected genitive and the prepositional genitive

Synthetic vs periphrastic

(3)
a. There were strong objections from the island’s inhabitants.
b. There were strong objections from the inhabitants of the island.

(4)

a. These are father’s trousers.

*These are the trousers of father.
b. Let’s go to the front of the house.
*Let’s go to the house’s front.

The inflected genitive

Animate nouns

(a) Personal names: George Washington’s statue

(b) Personal nouns: my sister’s pencil

my sister-in-law’s pencil

(c) Collective nouns: the Administration’s policy, the majority’s platform, the party’s elder
leader, the company’s working capital, the Government’s delaying tactics.

(d) Higher animals: the horse’s neck, the farm dog’s bark, the lion’s tail.

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Inanimate nouns:

(a) Geographical names

(5)
Italy’s policy (rather than Italy’s rivers)
Europe’s future
China’s development
the United States’ attitude
Maryland’s Democratic Senator
Minnesota’s immigrants
Hollywood’s studios
Radio City Music Hall is one of New York’s most famous theatres.

(b) Locative nouns

(6)
the hotel’s occupants rather than the ??hotel’s furniture
the town’s taxpayers
the hotel’s entrance
the country’s population
the club’s pianist
Harvard’s Linguistics Department
The earth’s interior

(c) Temporal nouns

(7)

an hour’s work in two years’ time

a moment’s thought a moment’s regret

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a week’s holiday a three days’ trip

(8)

the decade’s events this year’s sales

the day’s work today’s business
next year’s difficulties today’s traffic problem
last night’s fall of snow this month’s edition

(9)

a. yesterday’s newspaper
b. an invention of yesterday (i.e. ‘a recent invention’)

(d) Nouns of ‘special interest to human activity’

(10)

the brain’s total solid weight

the mind’s general development
the game’s history
the concerto’s final movement
the body’s needs
my life’s aim
science’s influence on our society
in freedom’s name
the strike’s end
the treaty’s ratification
the novel’s structure
the wine’s character

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Idiomatic constructions

(11)

(a)
edge: the water’s edge – the edge of the water
the river’s edge
end: at his journey’s end – at the end of his journey
surface: the water’s surface
for…sake: for her country’s sake – for the sake of her country
for God’s sake - *for the sake of the God

(b)

length: at arm’s length

reach: within arm’s reach
throw: at a stone’s throw
worth: their money’s worth

The prepositional genitive/periphrastic genitive

(12)
a. I’ve been studying the philosophy of language.
b. We set up our base camp at the bottom of the mountain.

Noun followed by a finite or non-finite clause

(13)
a. The players ignored the jeers of the women standing in the front row.
b. The players ignored the jeers of the women who were standing in the front row.

(14)

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The cathedral was destroyed in the fire of 1666

(15)
A man was sentenced to death for the murder of an English tourist, Monica Cantwell

(16)
the reign of James the second
the Collected Works of William Shakespeare (compare with He took down a copy of
Wordsworth's collected poems)

Personal adjectival heads

(17)
the spiritual welfare of the poor,
the language of the deaf-and-dumb.

(18)
the humidity of air

NB However, in combination with for ...... sake inflectional genitive is also found in such cases:
for honesty’s sake, for decency’s sake.

(19)
She is a great admirer of Henry James.
(20)
He’s the President of the United States.
The Prince of Wales is to visit Iceland.
(21)
a. Illness prevented him from attending his uncle’s funeral.
b. The death of his uncle was a shock to him.

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Note
While a string of prepositional genitives is common, e.g. the meeting of the sub-committee of the
Non-intervention Committee, a corresponding series of inflectional genitive forms is rarely
found: my cousin’s wife’s first husband. Usually a mixture of these possibilities is employed,
particularly in formal English: an important handful of the Government’s supporters.

The group genitive

(22)
in a month or two’s time
the Museum of Modern Art’s Director
the Duke of York’s eldest son

(23)
a. John’s and Mary’s books – coordinated genitives
b. John and Mary’s books – group genitive

(24)
at Smith, the bookseller’s office

(25)
at Smith’s, the bookseller / at Smith’s, the bookseller’s / at Smith, the bookseller’s

The elliptic genitive

(26)
a. That isn’t my handwriting. It’s Mary’s (i.e. Mary’s handwriting)
b. Jennifer’s is the only face I recognize here (i.e. Jennifer’s face)
c. He has a devotion to work like his father’s (i.e. his father’s devotion to work)

(27)
The wines of France are more expensive than those of California (i.e. the wines of California)

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The local genitive

(28)
a. When I arrived at Fred’s, I found I’d come on the wrong day.
b. We’ll be at my aunt’s soon.

(29)
St. Paul’s – i.e. St. Paul’s Cathedral

(30)
a. My grocer’s stays open late on Fridays (i.e. the grocer’s shop)
b. Was anything nice at the butcher’s this morning? (i.e., the butcher’s shop)
c. I’m getting my Christmas shopping at Macy’s (i.e. Macy’s department store)

Harrod’s is a vast store.

Harrods are having a sale.

The implicit genitive

(31)
e.g. Lady chapel, student hostel, doctor degree, afternoon tea

(32)
Harrods vs. Harrod’s (shop)
Longmans vs. Longman’s (shop)
St. Albans vs. St. Alban’s town
(33)
a. Harrod’s is a vast store – local genitive
b. Harrods are offering great bargains this season – implicit genitive

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The double genitive

(34)
a. a work of Milton’s – i.e. one of Milton’s works
b. a friend of his father’s – i.e. one of his father’s friends
c. Any friend of John’s is a friend of mine.
d. a picture of the King's (i.e., a picture owned by the King, as distinguished from a picture of the
King’s picture, one in which the king is portrayed)

The appositive genitive

(35)
“In Dublin’s fair city,
Where girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone”

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