ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the morphosyntax of case in relation to morphological variability—a long-debated issue in research on adult second language (L2) acquisition. The discussion focuses on L2 data from case-morphology rich languages, which are relatively less represented in the literature. Offline and online data discussed here suggest that ultimate attainment of the L2 case system is not a simple all-or-nothing issue; rather, it is largely morpheme-specific. A complex interaction among inherent linguistic characteristics of case morphemes as well as their frequency and functional load seem to impact L2 learners’ acquisition and processing performance. Further crosslinguistic research is needed to fully characterize the extent to which the L1–L2 proximity in case typology helps overcome inflectional variability in late L2 learners.
