The use of case forms in Modern Danish – an empirical study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the distribution of the nominative (nom) and the oblique (obl) form in personal pronouns in Modern Danish. As per a primary rule, pronoun NPs functioning as subjects are typically in the nom form, whilst the obl form is used in all other syntactic functions. Nonetheless, this rule is subject to certain exceptions in a number of constructions. In this paper, we present four studies concerning the distribution of nom and obl in selected constructions, where instances of variation are observed. These investigations are based on data from two separate corpora, one representing written language and the other, spoken language. Our findings suggest that both stylistic and structural characteristics, alongside considerations concerning processing, significantly influence the distribution of nom and obl. Furthermore, we note a considerable disparity in distribution when comparing spoken and written data.