Foreign language and literature

The Problems of Number and Case in Modern
English Nouns
Number is a grammatical category of nouns which denotes the number of objects, expressed by a word.
In English there are two numbers: singular and plural. The formal signal of the singular number is a zero morpheme, while the usual signal of plurality -/e/s. The formation of plural by means -/e/s is considered to be productive, but in Modern English there are some non-productive types of plural number, as for instance:
a) suffix - en : ox - oxen
b) variation of vowels in the root of a word:
tooth-teeth; goose-geese; mouse-mice; man-men,
c) variation of vowels of the root suffix- "ren" children;
d) homonymous forms for both sing and plural:
sheep – sheep
deer – deer
swine – swine
With regard to the category of number English nouns fall under two sub­classes: countable and uncountable. The latter is again subdivided into those having no plural form and those having no singular. The former type is called Pluralia tantum: clothes, goods, the latter - singularia tantum: milk, water.
The Category of Case in Nouns
The problem of the number of cases in English has given rise to different theories which were based on the different ways of approaching the descrip­tion of English grammatical structure.
Case is an indication of a relation in which the noun stands to some other word.
H. Sweet's conception of the number of cases in English doubtful. He is not sure whether in English there are five or two cases.
O. Curme distinguishes four cases:
1. Nominative-performs 3 functions:
subject, predicate and direct object
2. Accusative - performs 3 functions: object, adverbial modifier, predicate.
The dog bit my brother /obj./
He stayed an hour /adverbial acc/
I believed to be him /predicate/
3. Dative: When an action directed toward smb:
He makes coat for John.
4. Genitive: girl's ...
O. Jespersen distinguishes two cases: common and genitive.
M. Bryant is of the same opinion:
H. Whitehall distinguishes two cases in nouns on analogy with the pro­nouns which can substitute for them: nominative and objective.
B.A. Ilyish considers that – ‘s is no longer a case inflexion in the classical sense of a word. Unlike such classical inflections, -‘s may be attached:
a) to adverbs: yesterday's events
b) to a word group: Mary and John's apartment
c) to a whole clause: the man I saw yesterday’s son.
Ilyish concludes that the – ‘s morpheme gradually develops into a "form-word", a kind of particle serving to convey the meanings of belonging, possession”.
G.U. Vorontsova does not recognize -'s as case morpheme. She treats it as a "postposition", "a purely syntactical form - word resembling a preposition", used as a sign of syntactical dependence".
To Khaimovich and Rogovskaya -' s still function as a case morpheme, be­cause:
1. The-'s morpheme is mostly attached to individual nouns, not noun groups /in 96 %/.
2. It's general meaning – “the relation of a noun to another word” - is a typical case meaning.
3. The fact that -‘s occurs, as a rule, with a more or less limited group of words bears testimony to its not being a "preposition like form word". The use of the preposition is determined, chiefly by the noun it introduces: on /in/ under the table ...
4. oxen’s - cows' /z/, /θ/ and /of/ alternants: identical meanings and in complementary distribution.
5. –‘s not a “preposition like word” since it has no vowel as it is found in other prepositions in English.