Article published in:
Differential objects and datives – a homogeneous class?
Edited by Monica Alexandrina Irimia and Anna Pineda
[Lingvisticæ Investigationes 42:1] 2019
► pp. 102–131

Prolegomena to the study of object relations

| University of the Basque Country/HiTT
| University of Extremadura

This paper argues that there is nothing “differential” in the licensing conditions of Differential Object Marking and outlines an analysis that unifies dom with dative object marking and with a broader set of “derived object”-marking configurations. We show that neither morphological nor syntactic distinctiveness can be the driving force for dom: accounts of dom as a morphological distinctiveness device are inadequate diachronically and very unefficient functionally. Syntactic analyses that postulate DP-internal differences or construction-specific double-licensing conditions fail to capture the basic fact that dom is a relation between the objects and the predicates selecting them. Precisely, the burden of our unified explanation falls on the checking requirements imposed to the DP complements by the structural heads selecting them.

Keywords: differential object marker, dative, distinctiveness, scales
Article outline
  • 1.Scales and other theoretical artifacts
    • 1.1Ambiguity
    • 1.2Scales
  • 2.Syntactic accounts
    • 2.1Differential licensing
    • 2.2The locus of parametric variation
  • 3.The importance of being an object
    • 3.1Direct objects
      • 3.1.1The house of dom
      • 3.1.2A note on specificity
      • 3.1.3 dom and agreement are not two sides of the same coin
      • 3.1.4Putting everything together. The derivation of Object dom
    • 3.2Derived objects
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 July 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/li.00031.orm
References
Aissen, J.
1999 Markedness and subject choice in Optimality Theory. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 17, 673–711. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2003 Differential Object Marking: Iconicity Vs. Economy. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 211, 435–483. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alcaraz, A.
2019 Configurations of A-movement. PhD. Thesis, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).Google Scholar
Baker, M. C.
1988 Incorporation: A Theory of Grammatical Function Changing. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
1996 The Polysynthesis Parameter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baker, M. C. & Vinokurova, N.
2010 Two modalities of case assignment: case in Sakha. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 28:3, 593–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Béjar, S. & Rezac, M.
2003 Person licensing and the derivation of PCC effects. In A. T. Pérez-Leroux & Y. Roberge (Eds.), Romance Linguistics: Theory and Acquisition. Amsterdam, John Benjamins. 49–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 Cyclic agree. Linguistic Inquiry, 401, 35–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Belletti, A. & Menetti, C.
In press. Topics and passives in Italian-speaking children and adults. Language acquisition.
Bernstein, J., Ordóñez, F. & Roca, F.
2018  dom and DP layers in romance. Talk presented at Differential Object Marking in romance-towards microvariation , Inalco, Paris Nov. 10 2018.
Berro, A. & Fernández, B.
2018 Applicatives without verbs. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, first on line Dec 2018 doi:  DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bossong, G.
1991 Differential object marking in Romance and beyond. In D. Wanner & D. A. Kibbee (Eds.) New analyses in Romance linguistics, 143–170. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brugè, L. & Brugger, G.
1996 On the accusative a in Spanish. Probus, 8:1, 1–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Comrie, B.
1981 Language universals and linguistic typology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Croft, W.
1990 Typology and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Croft, W. & Poole, K. T.
2008 Inferring universals from grammatical variation: Multidimensional scaling for typological analysis. Theoretical linguistics, 341, 1–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Danon, G.
2006 Caseless nominals and the projection of DP. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 241, 977–1008. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dowty, D.
1991 Thematic Proto-Roles and Argument Selection. Language, 67:3, 547–619. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dryer, M. S.
1986 Primary Objects, Secondary Objects, and Antidative. Language, 621, 808–845. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fábregas, A.
2015 Direccionales con con y Marcado Diferencial de Objeto. Revue Romane, 50:2, 163–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández, B. & Rezac, M.
2016 Differential Object Marking in Basque varieties. In B. Fernández & J. Ortiz de Urbina (eds.), Microparameters in the Grammar of Basque, 93–138. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
García García, M.
2007 Differential object marking with inanimate objects. In G. A. Kaiser & M. Leonetti (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop “Definiteness, Specificity and Animacy in Ibero-Romance Languages”, 63–84. Arbeitspapier 122. Universität Konstanz.Google Scholar
Glushan, Zhanna
2010 Deriving case syncretism in Differential Object marking systems. Ms., University of Connecticut.Google Scholar
Green, G.
1974 Semantics and syntactic regularity. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Harley, H. & Ritter, E.
2002 Person and number in pronouns: A feature geometric analysis. Language, 781, 482–526. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haspelmath, M.
2004 Explaining the Ditransitive Person-Role Constraint: a usage-based account. Constructions 2.Google Scholar
2008 Descriptive scales versus comparative scales. In M. Richards & A. L. Malchukov (Eds.), Scales, 39–53. Linguistische Arbeits Berichte 86, Universität Leipzig.Google Scholar
2018 Are we making progress in understanding differential object marking? https://​dlc​.hypotheses​.org​/1119
Ingason, A. K.
2016 Applicatives in the noun phrase. Ms. University of Iceland.Google Scholar
Irimia, M. A.
2018 Variation in differential object marking: on some differences between Romanian and Spanish. Ms. University Modena and Reggio Emilia.Google Scholar
Jaeggli, O.
1982 Topics in Romance syntax. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Jones, M. A.
1999 The pronoun determiner debate: evidence for Sardinian and repercussions for French. In E. Treviño & J. Lema (Eds.), Semantic Issues in Romance Syntax, 121–140. Amsterdam, John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Laca, B.
1995 Sobre el uso del acusativo preposicional en español. In C. Pensado (Ed.), El complemento directo preposicional, 61–91. Madrid: Visor.Google Scholar
Larson, R. K.
1988 On the Double Object Construction. Linguistic Inquiry, 19:3, 335–391.Google Scholar
Ledgeway, A.
2012 From Latin to Romance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2018 Parametric variation in dom in the dialects of Southern Italy. Talk, International workshop Differential Object Marking in Romance. Towards Microvariation. INALCO, Paris 2018/11/9-10
Leonetti, M.
2008 Specificity in Clitic Doubling and in Differential Object Marking in Spanish. Probus 201, 33–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
López, L.
2012 Indefinite objects. Cambridge, MIT Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marantz, A.
1991 Case and licensing. In ESCOL ’91: proceedings of the eighth eastern states conference on linguistics, 234–253.Google Scholar
Mendikoetxea, A.
1999 Construcciones con se: Medias, Pasivas e Impersonales. In I. Bosque & V. Demonte (Eds.), Gramática Descriptiva de la Lengua Española, 1631–1722. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe.Google Scholar
Mithun, M.
1984 The evolution of noun incorporation. Language, 601, 847–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Odria, A.
2017 Differential Object Marking and Datives in Basque Syntax. PhD dissertation, University of the Basque Country.Google Scholar
2018  dom and datives in Basque: not as homogeneous as they look like. Manuscript, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).Google Scholar
Ormazabal, J. & Romero, J.
2007 The Object Agreement Constraint. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 251, 315–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013a Object Clitics, Agreement and Dialectal Variation. Probus, 251, 301–344. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013b Non accusative objects. Catalan Journal of Linguistics, 121, 155–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013c Differential Object Marking, case and agreement. Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 21, 221–239. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 Historical Changes in Basque Dative Alternations: Evidence for a P-based (neo)derivational analysis. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 2:1, 781, 1–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2019a Deconstructing se constructions. Ms. UPV/EHU & Universidad de Extremadura.Google Scholar
2019b The formal properties of non paradigmatic se . To appear in Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 81, 55–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pensado, C.
1995 El complemento directo preposicional. Estado de la cuestión y bibliografía comentada. In C. Pensado (Ed.), El complemento directo preposicional, 11–59. Madrid: Visor.Google Scholar
Paul, W. & Whitman, J.
2010 Applicative structure and Mandarin ditransitives. In M. Duguine et al. (Eds.), Argument Structure and syntactic relations from a crosslinguistic perspective, 261–282. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peterson, D. A.
2006 Applicative constructions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pineda, A.
2018 Differential object marking in Catalan varieties. Talk, International workshop Differential Object Marking in Romance. Towards Microvariation. INALCO, Paris 2018/11/9-10.
Rappaport-Hovav, M. & Levin, B.
2008 The English dative alternation: The case for verb sensitivity. Journal of Linguistics, 441, 129–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rezac, M.
2011 Phi-features and the modular architecture of language. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rigau, G.
1988 Strong pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry, 191, 503–511.Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Ordoñez, I.
2016 Differential Object Marking in Basque: Grammaticalization, attitudes and ideological representations. Urbana-Champaign: UIUC PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Ordóñez, I.
2017 Reexamining differential object marking as a linguistic contact-phenomenon in Gernika Basque. Journal of Language Contact, 10:2, 318–352. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez Mondoñedo, M.
2007 The syntax of objects: Agree and differential object marking. Ph Dissertation, U. of Connecticut.Google Scholar
Sigurðsson, H. Á.
2004 The syntax of Person, Tense, and speech features. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 161, 219–251.Google Scholar
2006 The Nominative Puzzle and the Low Nominative Hypothesis. Linguistic Inquiry, 371, 289–308. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Silverstein, M.
1976 Hierarchy of features and ergativity. In R. M. W. Dixon (Ed.), Grammatical categories in Australian languages, 112–171. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. [Reprinted in P. Muysken, & H. van Riemsdijk 1986 Features and projections, Foris, Dordrecht, 163–232.]Google Scholar
Uriagereka, J.
1996 Warps: some thoughts on categorization. Cuadernos de Lingüística del I.U. Ortega y Gasset, 41, 1–38.Google Scholar
von Heusinger, K. & Kaiser, G. A.
2005 The evolution of differential object marking in Spanish. In K. von Heusinger, G. A. Kaiser & E. Stark (Eds.). Proceedings of the Workshop “Specificity and the Evolution / Emergence of Nominal Determination Systems in Romance”, 33–70. Arbeitspapier Nr. 119. Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Konstanz.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Camacho Ramírez, Rafael
2022. Differential Object Marking and Labeling in Spanish. Languages 7:2 ► pp. 114 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 january 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.