C subscripted value is neither array nor pointer nor vector when assigning an array element value

C lets you use the subscript operator [] on arrays and on pointers. When you use this operator on a pointer, the resultant type is the type to which the pointer points to. For example, if you apply [] to int*, the result would be an int.

That is precisely what’s going on: you are passing int*, which corresponds to a vector of integers. Using subscript on it once makes it int, so you cannot apply the second subscript to it.

It appears from your code that arr should be a 2-D array. If it is implemented as a “jagged” array (i.e. an array of pointers) then the parameter type should be int **.

Moreover, it appears that you are trying to return a local array. In order to do that legally, you need to allocate the array dynamically, and return a pointer. However, a better approach would be declaring a special struct for your 4×4 matrix, and using it to wrap your fixed-size array, like this:

// This type wraps your 4x4 matrix
typedef struct {
    int arr[4][4];
} FourByFour;
// Now rotate(m) can use FourByFour as a type
FourByFour rotate(FourByFour m) {
    FourByFour D;
    for(int i = 0; i < 4; i ++ ){
        for(int n = 0; n < 4; n++){
            D.arr[i][n] = m.arr[n][3 - i];
        }
    }
    return D;
}
// Here is a demo of your rotate(m) in action:
int main(void) {
    FourByFour S = {.arr = {
        { 1, 4, 10, 3 },
        { 0, 6, 3, 8 },
        { 7, 10 ,8, 5 },
        { 9, 5, 11, 2}
    } };
    FourByFour r = rotate(S);
    for(int i=0; i < 4; i ++ ){
        for(int n=0; n < 4; n++){
            printf("%d ", r.arr[i][n]);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }
    return 0;
}

This prints the following:

3 8 5 2 
10 3 8 11 
4 6 10 5 
1 0 7 9