Casally modulated prepositions areprepositions whose meaning is modified by thegrammatical case their arguments take. The most common form of this type of preposition is bigovernate; that is the preposition may govern one of two cases.
There exist a reasonable number of bigovernate prepositions inGerman; these arean, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor andzwischen.[1] These prepositions can take either theaccusative ordative grammatical cases. The accusative case is used when there is movement relative to the object with which the preposition agrees (e.g. I go into the cinema, "Ich gehe in das Kino") whereas the dative case is used when the subject of the preposition is static in relation to the object with which the preposition agrees (e.g. I am in the cinema, "Ich bin in dem Kino"), the difference here being between the definite article (das/dem).
There are fewer bigovernate prepositions inLatin, the most common of which arein, sub, subter andsuper. These can take either theaccusative orablative cases. The meaning is modified in a similar way to German. If the preposition takes the accusative then it carries connotations of motion whereas if it takes the ablative then it suggests that the subject of the preposition is at rest. Compare "eram in horto" (I was in the garden) with "veni in hortum" (I came into the garden). Unlike German the difference between these two examples is expressed through the case-endings on the nouns (horto [ABL]/hortum [ACC]). It is much easier to distinguish between the two examples in Latin because the ablative endings are always different from the accusative endings.
It has been suggested that the use of the ablative in this way arose on account of the merging of the locative and ablative cases.[2]
Some prepositions inRussian are monogovernate, one such preposition beingк 'towards' governing only thedative case. However, almost all prepositions govern two or even three cases.
As is the case in German and Latin, most spatial prepositions govern thelocative case when there is no movement (some prepositions, however, govern theinstrumental case). The same spatial prepositions govern theaccusative case when their complement is the target of a movement:
There are, however, prepositions whose meaning drastically changes when the case of their complement changes. The most frequently used such preposition isс(o), which means[together] with with theinstrumental case,from with thegenitive case andlike with theaccusative case:
Note: Theablative and genitive cases conflated inBalto-Slavic and for this reason the genitive case has far more meanings and usages in the Slavic languages and Russian in particular, than in Latin, Greek or German. One particular example are the prepositionsот (ot, from) andдо (do, to) which although having opposite meanings both govern the genitive.
Other less frequently-used bigovernate prepositions areпо (dative foron, along and accusative forup to) andо(б) (prepositional forabout and accusative when the complement denotes an object of a clash or touch)
The prepositionв(о)in normally governs either the locative or the accusative case, as with any other spatial preposition. However, when someone is elected, his post is the complement of the same preposition in thenominative plural. The following example contains both usages:
Classical Greek has several polygovernate prepositions, in addition to bigovernate and monogovernate prepositions.
ἐπί meanson with thegenitive case,onto with thegenitive case[dubious –discuss] andin with thedative case.