GRAMMAR AND SEMANTICS : CASE, GENDER, MOOD

CASE

the traditional concept of case has been extended to take in the relationships between verb and nouns
in clauses and the ways in which these relationships are signalled. In some languages, the relations are
marked by affixes added to the verb, but these would still come under the modern concept of CASE.
(It will be helpful to use capital letters when referring to the modern extended concept and small
letters when referring to the traditional concept or to affixes or, as in English, to prepositions.) CASE
is relevant to English; the relations between verb and nouns in clauses are signalled by position and by
the presence or absence of prepositions. the subject is to the left of the verb, with no preposition, and
the direct object is to the right of the verb, with no preposition. In the indirect object construction, the
indirect object is immediately to the right of the verb and followed by the direct object.

All other nouns in a clause are connected to the verb by a preposition. (Note that this does not mean
that all prepositions signal verb–noun relations. They can also signal noun–noun relations, as in the
vase on the table, and adjective–noun relations, as in rich in minerals.) The key question is to what
extent any constant meaning attaches to a given preposition wherever it occurs (and, for languages
such as Latin and Russian, the extent to which a constant meaning attaches to a given case suffix).

Gender

we mentioned that Latin nouns fall into various classes called 'gender' and that they are erroneously
named 'gender masculine', 'gender feminine' and 'gender neutral'. The different classes of nouns are
grammatically important because which class a noun belongs to determines which case endings are
used and which case endings the modifying adjectives take. English nouns fall into a class that is
more closely related to the natural gender. There is a great separation between animate and inanimate
nouns, related to their use as opposed to he and she. Animated nouns are divided into male and
female, which governs the use of he as opposed to she.

Mood

Throughout this book we have explained that speakers use syntax to talk about situations, adopting
different perspectives on certain situations. It would be very pleasant and appropriate if 'mood' as a
technical term in grammar was derived from or historically associated with 'mood' as a term applied to
psychological states. Unfortunately not, as the latter is cognate with the German word and the former
comes from a Latin word which also survives in Modern English as 'fashion'. The central point is that
speakers have different ways of presenting situations.