Dutch spatial case

This paper argues that Dutch has spatial case in the form of r-pronouns. The use of these pronouns is rather restricted, which explains the fact that they have not been recognized as spatial case markers before. The restricted use in Dutch is due to two simultaneously applying principles that are cross-linguistically validated. First, case can be used on constituents whose syntactic function can not be told from structural position. Second, infelicitous combinations of humans with spatial forms case can be avoided. The findings reported in this paper may necessitate a rethinking of what exactly (spatial) case is.