A note on oblique case 127
Finally, observe that the fact that the resolution of the puzzle discussed above is cru-
cially dependent on oblique case being uniquely associated with, and being identi-
fied as, the category-type P, has particular broader theoretical implications. It provides
indication that Pesetsky’s (2013) proposal of eliminating the traditionally assumed set
of morphological cases from the theory by reducing them to particular instances of
categorial features – and specifically, the claim that oblique cases are manifestations
of the part-of-speech category P copied onto the noun phrase – may well be on the
right track.
- Conclusion
A clear advantage of the account proposed for the puzzle of Serbian/Croatian above is
that now the observed discrepancy between apparent “V-governed or N-governed” and
“P-governed” noun phrases in relation to the oblique case realization requirement of
the language follows straightforwardly from the conceptually desirable claim accord-
ing to which the category P is the unique assigner of oblique case, in conjunction with
the well-motivated, independent requirement that oblique cases in the language must
be overtly realized. The account has moreover turned out to provide novel empirical
support for the approach to morphological case developed in Pesetsky (2013), under
which the various traditional cases, instead of having designated features of their own
in the theory, are reduced to affixed instances of part-of-speech categories, oblique
case being an instance of the category P. The prima facie puzzling Serbian/Croatian
phenomenon discussed above was shown to fall out straightforwardly if one assumes
that “oblique” cases are identified uniformly with the category feature P, and thus are
assigned exclusively by the head P via copying onto the noun-phrase.
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