Download the PDF file
Download the DOC file

The Unitary Grammatical Function Hypothesis claims that the same functions which appear in syntax (inflectional morphology) also determine the functional L-derivations. This is accomplished by investing deep structures with these functions before lexical insertion, then allowing both L-derivation and I-derivation to operate on them, as described in section 6 of the main text. LMBM assumes that a deep, categorial component is inevitable and that it is not a strictly syntactic component but rather a general grammatical component which feeds both the lexicon and syntax. Details are available in chapter 13 of Beard (1995). Those functions are listed in detail here here. They provide strong constraints on the semantics of inflectional and lexical morphology.

Below is a list of all the grammatical (category) functions of the PIE and contemporary IE Case system(s) alongside examples of L-derivations with the same functions. Examples are given for Serbo-Croatian; however, the corresponding Case for Sanskrit and preposition for English are given in bold face type in parenthesis. "Possessivity (Genitive : of) indicates that the possessor was marked by the Genitive in Sanskrit (thus probably in PIE), and in English it is indicated by the preposition of.

The Serbo-Croatian grammatical marking for the given function is provided in brackets beside the Serbo-Croatian example. Since Sanskrit did not have a Possessional (Qualitative) Genitive, the Greek (Gk) is given; presumably it was an PIE function. The table does not imply a perfect correlation between the functions of Serbo-Croatian, Sanskrit Case, and English adpositions, only an overlap in the relevant one.

These functions were studied across 98 languages around the world. A sample language was taken from all language families (stocks). For those language families containing widely disparate subgroups, e.g. English, French, and Russian, a typical sample of each subgroup was studied. These functions appear to be the same across all languages covered; that is, all languages selected their morphological functions from this set of functions and none of the languages surveyed contained any other functions.

The categories are divided into (1) primary inflectional functions (those more commonly marked by case endings alone), (2) secondary inflectional functions (those more commonly marked by case + adposition), and (3) tertiary prepositional functions (adverbal prepositions without corresponding L-derivations). The primary functions were those most likely to be marked by case ending alone. The secondary functions were most likely marked by case ending plus an adposition. The tertiary functions are never marked by case ending alone and the adpositions that mark them are highly likely to be synonyms of other adpositions.

INFLECTION FUNCTIONS	LEXICAL DERIVATIONS
1. Agent (Ergative: Not in IE Languages)	(Ergative languages have these)
2. Patient (Absolutive: Not in IE Languages)	(Ergative languages have these)
3. Subject (Nominative: Word Order) covek radi [Nom] "the-man works"	Subjective Nominals rad-nik "worker"
4. Object (Accusative: Word Order) zatvorili su čovek-a [Acc] "they-imprisoned the-man"	Objective Nominals zatvor-eni-niki "prisoner"
5. Possessivity (Genitive: of) plave očii čovek-a [Gen] "the-blue eyes of-the-man"	Possessive Adjective čovek-ov-e plave oči "the-man's blue eyes"
6. Possession ((Gk) Genitive: with/of) čovek plav-ih o-čiju [Gen] "a-man with-blue eyes"	Possessional Adjective plav-o-ok čovek "blue-eyed man"
7. Measure (Accusative: Word Order) idemo pet kilometara [Acc] "we-are-going five kilometers	Mensurative Nominals kilometr-až-a "kilometrage" ;
8. Material (Genitive: (out) of) sto od hrast-a [od+Gen] "a-table from oak"	Material Nominals hrast-ov sto "oak(en) table"
9. Partitivity (Genitive: of) drvo od hrast-a [od+Gen] "wood from an-oak" meso od jagnj-et-a [od+Gen] "meat from a-lamb"	Partitive Nominals hrast-ov-ina "oak (wood)" jagnj-et-ina "lamb (meat)"
10. Distinction (Ablative: than) brž-e od konj-a [od+Gen] "faster than a-horse"	[Specialized usage: determined by comparative adjectives]
11. Absolute (Ablative: Word Order)	[Sentence Adverbs]
12. Means (Instrumental: by/with) žanje kos-om [Instr] "he-reaps with-a-scythe"	Modalic Nominals kos-ac "reap-er" (machine)
13. Route (Instrumental: by/via) ploviti mor-em [Instr] "travel by-sea"	Vialic Adjective mor-sk-a (plovidba) "sea (voyage)"
14. Manner (Ace/Instr: like) živeti rob-om [Instr; kao+Nom] "to-live like a-slave"	Similitudinal Adjective rop-sk-i "slav-ish"
15. Ession (Acc/Instr: as) raditi kao lekar [kao+Nom] "to-work as a-doctor"	Essive Adjective lekar-sk-i "doctor-Iy, medical"
16. Duration (Instrumental: (for)) čitav-o let-o smo radili [Acc] "the-whole summer we worked"	Durative Adjective let-nj-i raspust "summer holidays"
17. Iteration ( ... ?: (on) ... s) nedelj-om idemo (u crkvu) [Instr] "(on) Sunday(s) we go (to church)"	Iterative Adjective nedelj-n-a (misa) "Sunday (mass)"
18. Accordance (Ablative: by) po zakon-u [po+Loc] "according to the law"	Accordant Nominals zakon-it "lawful"
19. Purpose (Dative: to/for) karte za igr-anj-e [za+Acc] "cards for playing" (platiti) za poštu [za+Acc] "(pay) for the mail"	Purposive Nominals igr-ać-e kart-e "playing cards" pošt-ar-in-a "post-age"
20. Exchange (? : for) za pet dinara [za+Acc] "(buy the book) for 5 dinars"	Permutative    . ? .    . ? .
21. Cause (Ablative: from/out of) pocrvenio je od stid-a [Various Ps] "he blushed from shame"	Causative Nominals    . ? .    . ? .
22. Sociation (saha+Instrumental: with) raditi sa covek-om [sa+Instr] "to-work with a-person"	Sociative Noun co-rad-nik "co-work-er"
23a. Location (Place: at/in/on) raditi u pekarnic-i [u+Loc] "to-work at a-bakery"	Locative Nouns rad-io-nic-a "work-shop"
23b. Location (Time: at/in/on) u noc, u večer) [u+Acc] "at night", "in the evening"	Locative Nouns rad-io-nic-a "work-shop"
24. Goal (Accusative/Locative: to) voz za Beograd [ulna/za+Ace] "train for Beograde"	Goal Nominals beograd-sk-i voz "Belgrade train"
25. Origin (Ablative: from/of) čovek iz Amerik-e [iz+Gen] "a-person from America" voz iz Beograd-a [iz+Gen] "train from Belgrade"	Originative Nominals Amerik-an-ac "(an) American" beograd-sk-i voz "Belgrade train"
II. Secondary Inflectional Functions
26. Inession (Locative: in) raditi u pekarnic-i [u + Loc] "to-work at a-bakery"	Locative Nouns rad-io-nic-a "work-shop"
27. Adession (Locative: on) raditi na ulic-i [na + Loc] "to-work on the-street"	Locative Nouns rad-il-išt-e "work site"
28a. Anteriority (Place: agre+Gen: in front of) pred sob-om [pred+Instr] "in-front-of the-room"	Anterior Nominals pred-sob-lj-e "anteroom"
28b. Anteriority (Time: pūrva+Abl: before pred rat [pred + Acc] "before the-war"	Antecedent Nominals pred-rat-n-i "prewar"
29a. Posteriority (Place: pascat+Abl: behind) za gor-ama [za+Instr] "behind the-mountains"	Posterior Nominals za-gor-sk-i, za-gor-j-e "transmontane (region)"
29b. Posteriority (Time: parena+Abl: after) posle rat-a [posle+Gen] "after the-war"	Subsequential Nominals po(sle)-rat-n-i "postwar"
30. Superession (upari+Gen: over) nad zem-lj-om [nad+Instr] "above the-ground"	Superessive Nominals nad-zem-n-i "overground"
31. Subession (adhas+Acc: under) pod vod-om [pod+Instr] "under the-water"	Subessive Nominals pod-vod-n-i "underwater"
32. Transession (adhi+Acc: across) preko mor-a [preko+Gen] "across the-ocean"	Transessive Nominals preko-mor-sk-i, prekomor-j-e "overseas"
33. Intermediacy iantar+Acc: between) među narod-ima [medu+Instr] "between nations"	Intermediative Nominals među-narod-n-i "international"
34. Prolation (anu+Acc: along) duž Dunav-a [duz+Gen] "along the-Danube"	Prolative Nominals (anu+Acc: along) po-dunav-ski, po-dunav-lje "Danubian (Basin)"
35. Proximity (abhyiise+Gen: by/near/at) pri mor-u [pri+ Dat) "by the-sea"	Proximate Nominals pri-mor-sk-i, pri-mor-j-e "coastal (region)"
36. Opposition (prati+Acc: against) protiv avion-a [protiv+Gen] "against aircraft"	Oppositive Adjective protiv-avion-sk-i "anti-aircraft"
37. Perlation (tiras+Acc: through) kroz sum-u [kroz+Acc] pro-laz "through the-woods"	Perlative Nominals (deverbal nominalization) "throughway"
38. Circumession (pari+Acc: around) oko kuć-e [oko+Gen] "around the house"	Circumessive oko-vrat-nik "collar" (around the neck)
41. Distribution po deset dinara (po + Loc] "ten dinars apiece"	Distributive dvudinarno (pivo) "two-dinar (beer)
43. Privation (ré, vinii + Inst: without) [Negative [Possession]] bez vod-e [bez + Gen] "without water"	Privative Adjective bez-vod-an "waterless, arid"
39. Termination (? : up to) do kuć-e [do+Gen] "as far as the house"	Terminative    . ? .    . ? .
40. Concession uprkos covek-u [uprkos + Oat] "despite the man"	Concessive    . ? .    . ? .
42. Exception ( ? ) [Negative Sociation] osim covek-a [osim/izuzev + Gen] "except the man"	Exceptive?    . ? .    . ? .    . ? .
44. Thematicity (pari + Ace: about) (misliti) o kuc-i [o + Loe] "(think) about the house"	Thematic?    . ? .    . ? .
III. Tertiary Prepositional Functions
kod "at someone's (chez)"	mesto "instead of"
sred "amid"	radi "for the sake of"
zbog "thanks to"	prema "toward, opposite"

English Tertiary Prepositions
atop	amid	alongside	but	since	until
astride	among	save	opposite	including	during
aboard	beside	except	near	toward	besides