View source for Kazakh/Case

What's a case?  What's not a case?

These all follow bare nouns (and can follow possessed forms too?), but they differ from one another in a number of ways.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! form
! name
! verbal argument?
! verbal adjunct?
! attributive?
! substantive?
! postpositional obj?
! C phonology
! V phonology
|- 
! -
! nominative/absolutive
| yes
| ~no
| ~yes
| yes
| yes
| (no)
| (no)
|-
! -NI
! accusative
| yes
| no
| no
| yes
| yes
| yes
| yes
|-
! -GA
! dative
| yes
| yes
| no
| yes
| yes
| yes
| yes
|-
! -NIң
! genitive
| no
| no
| yes
| no
| ~yes
| yes
| yes
|-
! -DA
! locative
| no
| yes
| no
| no
| no?
| yes
| yes
|- 
! -DAн
! ablative
| no?
| yes
| no
| no
| yes
| yes
| yes
|- 
! -Мен
! instrumental/etc.
| sometimes
| yes
| no?
| no
| yes
| yes
| no
|- 
! -Nікі
! substantive genitive
| (with case)
| (with case)
| (with case)
| yes
| no?
| yes
| no
|- 
! -DAй
! similative
| (with case)
| yes
| yes
| yes
| no?
| yes
| yes
|- 
! -сIз
! abessive
| (with case)
| yes
| yes
| yes
| no?
| (no)
| yes
|- 
! -LI
! ?
|
|
|
|
| no?
| yes
| yes
|- 
! -LIK
! ?
|
|
|
|
| no?
| yes
| yes
|-
! сайын
! "every"
| no
| yes
| no
| no
| no
| no
| no
|-
! form
! name
! verbal argument?
! verbal adjunct?
! attributive?
! substantive?
! postpositional obj?
! C phonology
! V phonology
|}