A restructuring of case theory: Evidence from S-selected case

In this dissertation, I will show that while the commonly known Structural and Inherent Cases are able to account for the Case distribution in many structures, there are some Case markings that do not fit properly into the criteria for a pure Structural Case or a pure Inherent Case. The data analyzed in this dissertation will suggest that a third type of Case marking is needed in order to account for the puzzling array of facts observed. Accordingly, the goal of this dissertation is to argue for a three-way Case distinction. The first two type of Cases are the commonly known Structural and Inherent Cases. This dissertation will propose the third type of Case marking, known as S-selected Case derived from the notion of semantic selection, which is an intrinsic property that can be interpreted by the Intentional-Conceptual interface level. Therefore, unlike Structural and Inherent Cases, the significant property of S-selected Case is that it is a [+interpretable] feature that does not need to be checked and deleted in the course of derivation.; This dissertation will provide a cross-linguistic survey and shows that there are predictable instances where the standard assumptions of Case cannot account for the structures examined; rather we will see that the Case “assigner” and the Case “assignee” in the problematic constructions stand in a semantically driven relationship, where S-selected Case is marked. The structures examined in this dissertation are as follows: (i) Case checking between a numeral and its complement in Russian nominals; (ii) Genitive Case checking in English nominals; (iii) Partitive Case checking in Italian unaccusative constructions. By applying the three-way Case distinction in these constructions, the S-selected Case analysis uncovers the general properties of the Case system among the languages examined in this dissertation which other analyses cannot explain.