Case at the Syntax/Semantics Interface

For most theories of semantics cases are irrelevant at best. For these theories the ideal language has fully regimented word order but no morphology. This means that cases have to disappear at the interface from syntax to semantics. The role of syntax is among other to provide a structural substitute for cases. This is also the philosophy of the Minimalist Program, where cases are treated as uninterpretable features. We argue here in line with Nordlinger [15] that case is not only independent from syntactic structure, but that it can be a substitute for it. Moreover, we shall provide a semantics in which cases are instrumental in providing the string–to–meaning translation. This shows that there is any reason to believe that cases survive at the interface. Introduction. Semantics and to some extent also syntax are often at odds with morphology. This is so, because morphology seems to be on the one hand a small scale copy of both (we have semantic categories such as plural, and there is evidently a good deal of syntax in morphology). On the other hand, morphology ∗This paper is based on a talk held at UCLA in spring 1999 and at the Symposium ‘The relationship between syntax and semantics in the analysis of linguistic structure’ in Helsinki 1999. I would like to thank the audiences for helpful discussions, in particular Arto Anttila, Ed Keenan, Anoop Mahajan, Ed Stabler, and Tim Stowell. Special thanks also to David Perlmutter.