ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the framework of the case grammar theory. In accordance with this theory, the Arabic sentence consists of two initial components: Qualifier (Q) and Proposition (P). The Q component is a categorial element through which verbal qualifiers affecting the entire sentence are introduced into sentences. The P component in its basic structure consists of a verb and one or more deep structure cases or case roles, each associated with the verb in a particular case relationship. The case of the entity which acts or which is causally involved in the bringing about of an activity, a process or a state identified by the verb. This entity may be animate or inanimate; an inanimate entity that acts is an object like an astronomical body or a semi-autonomous machine. The transformations that map deep structures into surface structures within the framework of case grammar are far from clear.
