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Re: Save of the dative, the genitive's is already dead!

From:Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>
Date:Sunday, June 12, 2005, 16:31
Hi!

# 1 <salut_vous_autre@...> writes:
> Carsten Becker wrote: > > >Hello all, > > > >My dad recently got angry about the question why the genitive disappears > >more and more in German. I didn't know the reason or if there is a > >comparable process in other languages. However, the genitive can be > >replaced by a dative construction in all places in spoken language. > > I don't speak German but I think that it is similar to something in French > > The preposition "de" when it marks the genive can be replaced by "à" that > usually marks the dative > > My father's car = La voiture de mon père ~ La voiture à mon père > > Is it similar to what you think that happens in German?
Hmm, no. In German, the replacement works in two areas: for the plain genitive in noun-noun phrases, it is replaced by a prepositional clause: das Auto meines Vaters -> das Auto von meinem Vater my father's car -> the car of my father As a side effect of using the preposition, the dative is used instead of a genitive, since 'von' wants dative case. The second place where it happens is in prepositional clauses where the preposition used to trigger genitive, but now triggers dative in colloquial speech: wegen des Autos -> wegen dem Auto because of the car I don't think the French phenomenon is similar, although its spreading seems comparable. **Henrik

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Julia "Schnecki" Simon <helicula@...>