Eska

Differences between the Matrix Model and Extended Case Grammar

Eska is a conlang based on Case Grammar; more specifically, it is based on Extended Case Grammar which is my particular view of Case Grammar. Extended Case Grammar follows the Matrix Model applied by Walter Cook with a few exceptions. In Cook's Matrix Model there are four mutually exclusive cases: Experiencer, Benefactor, Location, and Time. To this list I add Range. It must be noted here that both the Matrix Model and Extended Case Grammar use semantic case rather than syntactic case. I know of no natural language that marks semantic case.

In the Matrix Model and in Extended Case Grammar predicates each belong to a particular domain. Predicates are divided into a number of domains. A predicate that only uses Object and possibly Agent cases is said to be in the Basic Domain. A predicate requiring the Experiencer case is said to be in the Experiential Domain. A predicate requiring the Benefactor case is said to be in the Benefactive Domain. A predicate requiring the Location case is said to be in the Locative Domain. A predicate requiring the Time case is said to be in the Temporal Domain. And a predicate requiring the Range case is said to be in the Range Domain. (The Range Domain is not used in the Matrix Model, because Cook examines a single novel for his input. Extended Case Grammar uses dictionaries for their input, which yielded the Range Domain as well as all of the other domains.)

Predicates are also divided into three classes: State verbs, Inchoative verbs, and Causative verbs. (The Matrix Model calls these: State verbs, Process verbs, and Action Verbs, respectively.) State verbs denote an unchanging state or condition. Examples are: be good, be tall, be old, be happy, be hungry, be sad, see, hear, have, lack, be at, be inside, be outside, be ready to walk, be on (day), weigh, and measure. Inchoative verbs include: get better, get taller, become happier, get hungrier, become sadder, spy, start to hear, get, lose, arrive, enter, exit, walk, last (for time), allocate, and appropriate. Causative verbs include: make good, make tall, make old, make hungry, make sad, show, make hear, give, discard, take away, bring, insert, remove, walk (a dog), spend (time), add, and subtract. State verbs are taken to be the basic form of verbs with the Inchoative and Causative verbs being derived from State verbs. An Inchoative verb is derived from a State verb by adding the inchoative notion of becoming or changing. A Causative verb is derived from an Inchoative verb by adding the notion of causation. A simple example would be the verbs be hungry, become hungry, and make hungry. Be hungry is a state verb; it denotes an unchanging state. Become hungry is derived from be hungry by adding the notion of becoming; therefore, become hungry is an Inchoative verb. Make hungry is derived from become by adding the notion of causing; therefore, make hungry is a Causative verb.

In the Matrix Model, Walter Cook designates be as a verb in its own right. I disagree with him. I view be as a predicative particle that attaches to syntactic nouns and adjectives to yield State verbs. In Eska state predicates include be + complement. Become and make are similar to be in that they include their complements also.

Two other important differences will be noted here: the Matrix Model allows two occurrences of the Object case within the same clause. In Eska using Extended Case Grammar, I disallow this; I reinterpret these clauses as having an Object case and a Benefactive case. The Matrix Model only allows a clause to be embedded under the Object case. Extended Case Grammar and Eska in particular allow clauses to be embedded under any case. Embedding a clause under the Agent case has the effect of a because clause.

Extended Case Grammar

In Case Grammar all nouns are treated as having semantic case, and the predicate is viewed as the most important member of a clause. From the beginning of Case Grammar with Charles Fillmore, a clause has been divided into a Proposition and a Modality. The proposition is "a tenselessset of relationships involving verbs and nouns "(Fillmore 1968:23), and the modality is "includes such modalities on the sentence-as-a-whole as negation, tense, mood, and aspect" (Fillmore 1968:23). A Proposition is further divided into a Predicate and its arguments. The Modality can be divided into Modal cases and Verbal modalities.

Many systems of Case Grammar have been proposed; each of them having particular strengths and weaknesses. Extended Case Grammar begins with the Matrix Model and extends it into a full grammar. (See above section for the differences between the two.)

Propositional Cases

Each predicate requires a number of cases. The number of cases required by a particular predicate is called the predicates valency. Predicates may require one, two, or three cases. Valency is directly related to the meaning of the predicate.

Object Case

The Object case is required for every predicate. "Object is the neutral underlying theme of the state, process, or action described by the verb" (Cook 1989:191). The Object case is "the semantically most neutral case, the case of anything representable by a noun whose role in the action or state identified by the verb is identified by the semantic interpretation of the verb itself" (Fillmore 1968:25).

examples: The book is red. The sky is blue. The man is tall. The man sees a woman. The dog chased a cat. The woman has a car. The woman bought a dress. The man is at home. The meeting is on Monday. The dog weighs 70 pounds.

Agent Case

The Agent case is required by a causative predicate. The Agent is the entity responsible for causing the action of the verb. "Although Agent is the typically animate performer of the verbal action, inanimate nouns may also occur as Agents. These include physical objects, machines, communities, and natural forces, anything capable of producing the action described by the verb" (Cook 1989:191).

examples:

The man painted the house red. The woman bought a dress from the boutique. The man gave the woman a gift. The man showed the woman a trick. The dog chased the cat. The man brought food home. The man talked to the woman.

Experiencer Case

The Experiencer case is required by an Experiential verb. "Experiencer is the person experiencing sensation, emotion, or cognition. In verbs of communication the experiencer is the hearer. Experience deals only with the inner life of man, not with experience in the more general sense" (Cook 1989:191).

examples:

The woman sees a bird. The woman spied a bird. The man showed the woman a trick. The man hears the woman. The child wants to play. The child is sad. (The child feels sadness.) The child is hungry. (The child feels hunger.) The man talks to the woman. The woman listens to music. The woman knows Spanish. The man thinks about rock climbing.

Benefactor Case

The Benefactor case is required by a Benefactive verb. Benefactor "is the possessor of an object or the nonagentive party in the transfer of property. Benefaction may be either positive or negative and the benefactor may be a gainer or a loser" (Cook 1989:191)

examples:

The man has a book. The woman bought a dress from the boutique. The man got a letter. The woman sold a car to the man. The woman owns a house. The man lacks a wife. The woman lost an earring. The thief stole money from the bank.

Location Case

The Location case is required by a Locative verb. Location "is restricted to physical location in space and includes both stative location with state verbs, and directional source and goal locatives with process and action verbs" (Cook 1989:191).

examples:

The man is at home. The woman is inside. The dog is outside. The man enters the house. The woman exits the house. The cat climbs the drapes. The child walks the dog to the park.

Time Case

The Time Case is required by Temporal verbs. "Time is predicated of an event as in the meeting is on Wednesday" (Cook 1989:196). "Process verbs may occur such as last,...and action verbs occur such as spend (time)" (Cook 1989:196).

examples:

The meeting lasts for an hour. The man spends the day with the woman.

Range Case

The Range case is required by Range verbs. Range is used by verbs such as: weigh, measure, cost, allocate, appropriate, total and bid.

examples:

The dog weighs 70 pounds. The book cost $10. The man bid $100.