Casally modulated preposition
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Casally modulated prepositions are prepositions whose meaning is modified by the grammatical case their arguments take. The most common form of this type of preposition is bigovernate; that is the preposition may govern one of two cases.


Bigovernate prepositions in German

There exist a reasonable number of bigovernate prepositions in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
; these are ''an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor'' and ''zwischen''. These prepositions can take either the accusative or
dative In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
grammatical cases. The accusative case is used when there is movement relative to the object with which the preposition agrees (e.g. I go into the cinema, "Ich gehe in das Kino") whereas the dative case is used when the subject of the preposition is static in relation to the object with which the preposition agrees (e.g. I am in the cinema, "Ich bin in dem Kino"), the difference here being between the definite article (das/dem).


Bigovernate prepositions in Latin

There are fewer bigovernate prepositions in Latin, the most common of which are ''in, sub, subter'' and ''super''. These can take either the accusative or ablative cases. The meaning is modified in a similar way to German. If the preposition takes the accusative then it carries connotations of motion whereas if it takes the ablative then it suggests that the subject of the preposition is at rest. Compare "eram in horto" (I was in the garden) with "veni in hortum" (I came into the garden). Unlike German the difference between these two examples is expressed through the case-endings on the nouns (horto BLhortum CC. It is much easier to distinguish between the two examples in Latin because the ablative endings are always different from the accusative endings. It has been suggested that the use of the ablative in this way arose on account of the merging of the locative and ablative cases.Why the Ablative , Locative , and Instrumental Cases Fell Together in Latin
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Polygovernate prepositions in Russian

Some prepositions in Russian are monogovernate, one such preposition being к 'towards' governing only the dative case. However, almost all prepositions govern two or even three cases. As is the case in German and Latin, most spatial prepositions govern the
locative case In grammar, the locative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by". The locative case belongs to the general local cases, together with the ...
when there is no movement (some prepositions, however, govern the
instrumental case In grammar, the instrumental case (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the ''instrument'' or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action. The noun may be either a physical object or an ...
). The same spatial prepositions govern the
accusative case The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
when their complement is the target of a movement: * Я был в Риме ''I was in Rome'' (locative) * Я иду в Рим ''I go to Rome'' (accusative) * Яблоко лежало на земле ''The apple lay on the ground'' (locative) * Яблоко упало на землю ''The apple fell on the ground'' (accusative) * Птицы поют за дворцом ''Birds sing at the back of the palace'' (instrumental) * Птицы улетели за дворец ''Birds flew to the back of the palace'' (accusative) There are, however, prepositions whose meaning drastically changes when the case of their complement changes. The most frequently used such preposition is с(o), which means '' ogetherwith'' with the
instrumental case In grammar, the instrumental case (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the ''instrument'' or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action. The noun may be either a physical object or an ...
, ''from'' with the
genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
and ''like'' with the
accusative case The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
: * Он упал со стеной ''He fell down together with the wall'' (instrumental) * Он упал со стены ''He fell from the wall'' (genitive) * Он ростом со стену ''He is tall like a wall'' (accusative) Note: The ablative and genitive cases conflated in Balto-Slavic and for this reason the genitive case has far more meanings and usages in the Slavic languages and Russian in particular, than in Latin, Greek or German. One particular example are the prepositions от (ot, from) and до (do, to) which although having opposite meanings both govern the genitive. Other less frequently-used bigovernate prepositions are по (dative for ''on, along'' and accusative for ''up to'') and о(б) ( prepositional for ''about'' and accusative when the complement denotes an object of a clash or touch) * По моим плечам ходили муравьи ''Ants walked on my shoulders'' (dative) * Я стоял по плечи в муравейнике ''I was up to my shoulders in the anthill'' (accusative) * О земле могу я много рассказывать ''About the Earth I can speak a lot'' (prepositional) * Он ударился о землю ''He hit the Earth'' (accusative) The preposition в(о) ''in'' normally governs either the locative or the accusative case, as with any other spatial preposition. However, when someone is elected, his post is the complement of the same preposition in the
nominative In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
plural. The following example contains both usages: * Дмитрий Медведев был выбран в президенты в 2008-ом году ''Dmitry Medvedev was elected a president in 2008''


Polygovernate prepositions in Classical Greek

Classical Greek has several polygovernate prepositions, in addition to bigovernate and monogovernate prepositions. ἐπί means ''on'' with the
genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
, ''onto'' with the
genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
and ''in'' with the dative case.


References


Sources

*M.Spencer, M. McCrorie. ''Advanced German Grammar''. London: Longman (2000). *R.M.Griffin. ''Cambridge Latin Grammar''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1991). {{lexical categories, state=collapsed Prepositions