Re: cases

Florian Rivoal wrote:

 > Nominative for subject
 > accusative for direct object
 > dative for indirect object
 > gentive for possession
 > vocative for calling

> second : what other functions do these cases occasionaly have?
Well, on the example of Latin (note that I don't know much Latin, so
this is by no means comprehensive or even assuredly correct...):

The nominative is used for predicative sentences, e.g.

     |Iulia pulchra est.|
     Julia:NOM  beautiful:NOM  is
     "Julia is beautiful."

The accusative can be used for time spans...

     |Multos menses aeger erat.|
     many:ACC  months:ACC  sick:NOM  was
     "He was sick for many months."

...for exclamations...

     |Me miserum!|
     me:ACC  miserable:ACC
     "Poor me!"

...for the subject of indirect speech...

     |Nuntio regem mortuum esse.|
     I_report  king:ACC  dead:ACC be
     "I report the king to be dead; I report that the king is dead."

...and after certain prepositions to show a sense of direction rather
than location, which would be expressed with the ablative case.

     |In forum currit.|
     in  marketplace:ACC  runs
     "He runs TO/INTO the marketplace."

     |In foro currit.|
     in  marketplace:ABL  runs
     "He runs (around) IN the marketplace."

The dative can be used for possession:

     |Mihi est.|
     me:DAT  is
     "It belongs to me."

The genitive can be used for ascribing qualities:

     |Magnae virtutis est.|
     big:GEN  virtue:GEN  is
     "He is (a man) of great virtue."




 > third :What other cases can there be, and what is there use?

My own conlang Obrenje does away with the accusative/dative
distinction and uses two other cases, predicative/objective
instead.  They bear the same work load, but share the duties
differently.  =P

http://catharsis.netpeople.ch/langmaking/obrenje_nouns.htm#2




Peter Clark wrote:

> If there are langs (con- or nat-) that only have two, I'd
> be interested in hearing about it."
Esperanto only has a common case and an accusative.



-- Christian Thalmann