The aim of this paper is to explain the differential object marking (DOM) inanimate objects in Spanish. Generally, animate Spanish are marked with an A morpheme; however, it possible for A-marker appear also specific circumstances. In article, I defend idea that a lexical feature verb (the presupposition existence) must be licensed organizing node dominates specificity features. V inherits from...

In this study we investigate the impact of affectedness on the diachronic development of Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Spanish. DOM in Spanish synchronically depends on (i) the referential features of the direct object, such as animacy and referentiality, and (ii) the semantics of the verb. Several studies have also shown that the diachronic development of DOM proceeds along the Animacy ...

Establishing and maintaining reference is a crucial part of discourse. In spoken languages, differential linguistic devices mark referents occurring in different referential contexts, that is, introduction, maintenance, and re-introduction contexts. Speakers using gestures as well as users of sign languages have also been shown to mark referents differentially depending on the referential conte...

This work follows the progression of a grammatical construction that unifies the Romanian accusative preposition pe with a coreferential pronominal clitic, together forming the cd-pe construction. On the basis of historical texts, it is argued that these two grammatical phenomena evolved into a clause-level construction with a dedicated semantics and pragmatics in the modern language. A corpus ...

Abstract Middle voice constructions are generally understood as syntactically detransitivizing and semantically characterized by a “low degree of event elaboration” (in Kemmer’s terms) involving relatively affected subject. thus have been identified in several Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan) languages, particular LaPolla. In Macro-Tani we find seemingly cognate construction with similar distribu...

Differential Object Marking (DOM) is a prevalent phenomenon in the world’s languages in which the case marking of the object NP is determined by certain semantic factors. Notions such as “animacy”, “definiteness”, “specificity”, and “topicality” are often invoked to explain the semantic contribution of the case marker in languages with DOM. In this paper, I investigate the semantic contribution...

Many authors have argued that there exists a relation between case morphology, on the one hand, and semantic interpretation, on the other. A recurrent pattern is that the presence of overt case corresponds with a strong interpretation, i.e., definite, specific, whereas the absence of case corresponds with a weak interpretation, i.e., indefinite, non-specific. In this paper we argue on the basis...