partitive case (Q15082)

PartitiveCase expresses the partial nature of the referent of the noun it marks, as opposed to expressing the whole unit or class of which the referent is a part. This case may be found in items such as the following: existential clauses, nouns that are accompanied by numerals or units of measure, or predications of material from which something is made. It often has a meaning similar to the English word 'some' [Pei and Gaynor 1954, 161; Richards, Platt, and Weber 1985, 208; Quirk, et al. 1985, 249; Sebeok 1946, 1214].