Long Distance Case Assignment in Finnish*

Abstract

Abstract. Long distance case assignment remains a little studied corner of grammar. This paper documents such phenomenon in Finnish. In this language the choice of the direct object case depends on several local and remote case assigners. Remote case assigners need not occupy the same clause as the assignees: case assignment penetrates any number of non‐finite clause boundaries of all types, adjunct boundaries, and even noun heads. Two hypotheses concerning the phenomenon are put forward: one, which says that the phenomenon is essentially an illusion and involves only local case assignment, and another, which says that genuine long distance case assignment is at issue. The latter hypothesis will find support from this work. A number of possible hypotheses (e.g. based on polarity, aspect, information structure, case assignment proper) are explored concerning the grammatical mechanism responsible for the phenomenon, and it is concluded that the phenomenon is an instance of syntactic case assignment. It is suggested that long distance case is triggered by left peripheral functional elements related to agreement, polarity and tense‐aspect, and that it implements an A′‐dependency.