Differential Object Marking in Romanian and Spanish: A contrastive analysis between differentially marked and unmarked direct objects

Default Option ◽

Left Dislocation ◽

Clitic Left Dislocation ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Chapter 4 focuses on DOM in Modern Romanian, for both direct and indirect objects. The data are organized according to the type of DOM mechanisms, with separate sections for CD, DOM-p, and CD+DOM-p. The pragmatic effects noticed for Old Romanian DOM are re-assessed, considering that the contrasting interpretation of CD versus DOM-p is neutralized. The major changes concern the loss of CD with direct objects and its recycling in conjunction with DOM-p. While DOM-p declines and becomes more specialized for the end of the specificity scale, CD+DOM-p turns into the default option for DOM with direct objects, as opposed to CD, which becomes the default option for DOM with indirect objects. Increased productivity for CD+DOM-p coincides with the parallel expansion of Clitic Left Dislocation in the language, which completely replaces the constituent fronting through Topicalization.

The acquisition of differential object marking in Hindi as a foreign language

Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1075/dujal.5.2.01bat ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 101-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Aaricia Ponnet ◽

Kristof Baten ◽

Saartje Verbeke

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Grammatical Structure ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Direct Objects ◽

This article explores a grammatical structure — differential object marking (DOM) — that is particularly difficult for L2 learners to acquire. DOM is a phenomenon in which some direct objects are morphologically marked and others are not. In Hindi, animate direct objects are always marked with the objective case marker ko, whereas specific direct objects are only optionally marked with ko. Inanimate and non-specific direct objects are never marked with ko and take the unmarked nominative form. DOM in Hindi has been found to pose a problem to heritage speakers of Hindi. The present study investigates whether similar difficulties exist for foreign language learners. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 30 foreign language learners of Hindi completing an oral production task. The results suggest that the learners do not have difficulties with the concept of DOM in itself — they know that not every direct object needs to be marked —, but rather with the variable conditions under which DOM occurs. The study defines five developmental profiles, which reflect a gradual accumulation of contexts appropriately marked with the objective case.

Differential object marking and object scrambling in the Guaraní language cluster

Lingvisticae Investigationes ◽

10.1075/li.00028.roe ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 31-55

Author(s):

Eva-Maria Roessler

Keyword(s):

Differential Treatment ◽

Direct Object ◽

Functional Domain ◽

Base Position ◽

Case Marker ◽

Parallel Data ◽

Applicative Constructions ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Abstract The parallel data discussed in this article suggest that in Guaraní languages differential objects seem far from being exclusively highlighted in morphology. Instead, the Guaraní dom systems exhibit a differential treatment of certain direct objects within narrow syntax. Focusing on [+animate] direct objects, I supply evidence that [+dom] direct objects scramble out of their base position into a higher, vP-internal, projection, namely αP (following López 2012). This short DO scrambling is derived including data from simple transitive, ditransitive, and applicative constructions as well as from object conjunction. The short scrambling within vP is followed by further direct object dislocation into a higher functional domain, an operation described in literature as triggered by φ-feature under T° and targeting a specifier in an expanded functional domain (Freitas 2011b). DOs that move out of their base position may be marked with the overt case marker, homophonous with dat case. The homophony between dat and dom is conceived as morphological opacity in the Guaraní case. Syntactically, however, [+dom] DOs pattern together with their zero-marked acc counterparts, rather than with indirect objects.

Are dislocated direct objects clause-external? Evidence from differential object marking

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society ◽

10.3765/bls.v38i0.3329 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. 190

Author(s):

Giorgio Iemmolo

Keyword(s):

Verb Second ◽

Fundamental Assumption ◽

External Evidence ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Object Marking ◽

Verbal Arguments

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I examine the frequent cross-linguistic connection between Differential Object Marking (henceforth, DOM) and dislocated position, as well as the co-occurrence of DOM and Differential Object Indexation (henceforth, DOI) on the verb. Second, I discuss some severe problems these data pose for the fundamental assumption, shared by linguists of different theoretical persuasions, that i) verbal arguments can be expressed only once within the clause, and ii) that dislocated constituents have to be clause-external.

Nominal licensing is driven by valued (phi-)features

Nordlyd ◽

10.7557/12.4186 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 15-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laura Kalin

Keyword(s):

Short Paper ◽

New Model ◽

Person Case Constraint ◽

Abstract Case ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Object Marking ◽

Case Feature

This short paper lays out the components of a new model of nominal licensing, motivated by novel observations about parallels between the Person Case Constraint and Differential Object Marking. The model revolves around the idea that valued features on nominals---namely, phi-features and features related to definiteness and animacy---are the sorts of features that need abstract licensing, rather than an abstract Case feature. This model helps us understand where differential marking and featural restrictions occur, and in particular, why it is that subjects and indirect objects, in contrast to direct objects, tend not to be differentially marked or featurally restricted.

Differential object marking in Ibero-Romance languages: Explanatory models in domestic and Russian educational literature

Rhema ◽

10.31862/2500-2953-2019-2-61-76 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 61-76

Author(s):

N. Pakhmutova

Keyword(s):

Explanatory Models ◽

Explanatory Model ◽

The Other ◽

Direct Object ◽

Romance Languages ◽

Didactic Literature ◽

Educational Literature ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Differential object marking / dom is the term for the phenomenon of distinguishing two classes of direct objects, one bearing a special marker, while the other lacking it. In modern linguistics, the marker licensing is partially or fully attributed to the features of a direct object: Animacy/Inanimacy and referential status. Russian didactic literature generally contains a reduced explanatory model of Spanish dom, based on the grammar of the Royal Spanish Academy. For Catalan, the explanatory model is complicated by the usus/norm split, the latter reducing the phenomenon’s scope. The paper focuses on the improvement of dom explanatory models for Spanish and Catalan.

A Study of DOM in Asturian (‘Dialectu Vaqueiru’)

Journal of Language Contact ◽

10.1163/19552629-bja10004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 96-140

Author(s):

Avelino Corral Esteban

Keyword(s):

Information Structure ◽

Ancestral Form ◽

Northwestern Spain ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Object Marking ◽

And Function

The present paper explores Differential Object Marking in a variety of Asturian (Western Iberian Romance) spoken in western Asturias (northwestern Spain). This ancestral form of speech stands out from Central Asturian and especially from Standard Spanish. For a number of reasons, ranging from profound changes in pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology and information structure to slight but very relevant effects on syntax. The main goal of this study is to examine the special marking of direct objects in order to find out what triggers the distribution of Differential Object Marking in this variety. To this aim, this paper will examine, from a variationist perspective, the influence of a number of semantic and discourse-pragmatic parameters on the marking of direct objects in this Western Asturian language as well as in Standard Spanish 1 and Central Asturian (which is generally considered the normative variety of Asturian). The results obtained from this comparison will allow us to outline the differences between these three varieties in terms of object marking, shedding more light on the origin and function of Differential Object Marking in Spanish.

From Proto-Hungarian SOV to Old Hungarian Top Foc V X

Diachronica ◽

10.1075/dia.30.2.03kis ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 202-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Katalin É. Kiss

Keyword(s):

Open Access ◽

Word Order ◽

Ongoing Process ◽

Basic Word ◽

Order Change ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Object Marking ◽

Word Order Change

This paper argues that Hungarian underwent a word order change from SOV to Top Foc V X* prior to its documented history beginning in 1192. Proto-Hungarian SOV is reconstructed primarily on the basis of shared constructions of archaic Old Hungarian, and Khanty and Mansi, the sister languages of Hungarian. The most likely scenario of the change from head-final to head-initial was the spreading of right dislocation, and the reanalysis of right dislocated elements by new generations of speakers as arguments in situ. In Hungarian — as opposed to Khanty and Mansi — right dislocation was facilitated by the extension of differential object marking to all direct objects. The change in basic word order initiated the restructuring of other parts of Hungarian grammar as well, which is a still ongoing process. [As of June 2015, this article is available as Open Access under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.]

REFLEXÕES SOBRE A MARCAÇÃO MORFOLÓGICA DO OBJETO DIRETO POR A EM PORTUGUÊS BRASILEIRO | OBSERVATIONS ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL A-MARKING OF DIRECT OBJECTS IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE

Estudos Linguísticos e Literários ◽

10.9771/ell.v0i58.26807 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 83

Author(s):

Sônia Cyrino

Keyword(s):

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

The Other ◽

Direct Object ◽

Romance Languages ◽

Romance Language ◽

Other Hand ◽

Direct Objects ◽

Como é sabido, o espanhol é uma língua românica que requer que certos objetos diretos (OD) sejam morfologicamente marcados por a, a chamada Marcação Diferencial do Objeto (DOM). Em outras línguas românicas, tais como o português europeu e brasileiro, por outro lado, objetos diretos animados não são geralmente marcados. Contudo, vários estudos diacrônicos mostram que a marcação morfológica por a do objeto direto era possível nos séculos XVI a XVIII em português, e houve um declínio nesse uso a partir dessa época. Interessantemente, no português brasileiro a marcação do objeto direto por a é ainda possível (ou opcional) em alguns contextos restritos. Neste trabalho, observo o espanhol e o português brasileiro para mostrar que essas línguas são diferentes com relação à marcação por a do objeto direto, mas semelhantes com relação ao fato de que objetos diretos animados são computados externamente ao vP. O trabalho pretende contribuir para a discussão dos efeitos da animacidade do objeto direto na sintaxe.Abstract: As is well-known, Spanish is a Romance language which requires that certain direct objects (DO) be morphologically marked by the preposition “a” (to), the so-called Differential Object Marking (DOM). In other Romance languages, such as European and Brazilian Portuguese, on the other hand, animate direct objects are not generally marked. However, several diachronic studies show that the morphological a-marking of the direct object was possible from the 16th to 18th centuries in Portuguese, and there was a decline of that use from then on. Interestingly, in Brazilian Portuguese, DO a-marking is still possible (or optional) in some restricted contexts. In this paper, I look at Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese to show that these languages are different with respect to the occurrence of the a-marking of the DO, but similar in relation to the fact that animate direct objects are moved to a position above the vP. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on the effects ofanimacy of direct objects in syntax.

Differential Object Marking in Kazakh: The Dynamic Syntax Approach

Journal of Logic Language and Information ◽

10.1007/s10849-021-09332-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nadezda Christopher

Keyword(s):

Accusative Case ◽

Turkic Languages ◽

Direct Objects ◽

The Difference ◽

Object Marking ◽

Dynamic Syntax ◽

Syntactic Restrictions

AbstractThis paper presents a novel, Dynamic Syntax-based approach to the phenomenon of differential object marking in Kazakh, which can be extended at least to other Turkic languages displaying this phenomenon. It is demonstrated that the difference in the pragmatics associated with marked and unmarked direct objects, as well as the syntactic restrictions on the positioning of unmarked direct objects, can be elegantly and succinctly explicated through the application of the notions of fixed and unfixed nodes, without the need for proposing special syntactic positions or additional pragmatics for the accusative case.