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German NPs are marked for case, which signals the role of the NP in a phrase (e.g., sentential subject, direct object, nominal complement, etc.). Although an entire NP will bear a particular case, it is typically the determiner (or adjective) in the NP rather than the N itself that is inflected for case.

I think in above paragraph (from book German: a linguistic introduction page 119) the verb bear means to show something; to carry something so that it can be seen. Is it correct?

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  • Note, to ask that question you should say "What does 'bear' mean?", instead of "what means bear"
    – James K
    Commented Sep 14, 2018 at 20:51

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It's a figurative sense, to support or to take, to accept or to sustain or to be marked by as in

Prepositions do not typically bear one of the four metrical stresses in early Germanic poetic meter.

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    In origin, bear means carry, as in many Indo-European languages. But it is almost obsolete in the literal sense of picking up an object and carrying it. It is however still in use in several generalised or figurative senses.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Sep 14, 2018 at 23:26

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