# Differential object marking

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{{Short description|Linguistic syntax feature}}
{{linguistics}}
In [linguistics](/source/linguistics), '''differential object marking''' ('''DOM''') is the phenomenon in which certain [objects](/source/object_(grammar)) of [verb](/source/verb)s are marked to reflect various [syntactic](/source/syntactic) and [semantic](/source/semantic) factors. One form of the more general phenomenon of [differential argument marking](/source/Differential_Argument_Marking), DOM is present in more than 300 languages. The term "differential object marking" was coined by Georg Bossong.{{sfn|Bossong|1985}}{{sfn|Bossong|1991}}

== Overview ==
In languages where DOM is active, [direct object](/source/direct_object)s are partitioned into two classes; in most such DOM languages, only the members of one of the classes receive a marker (the others being unmarked), but in some languages, like [Finnish](/source/Finnish_language), objects of both classes are marked (with different endings). In some DOM languages where only pronominal direct objects are marked, such as English, direct objects have distinct [allomorphs](/source/Allomorph) rather than an affix (e.g., the English first person subject ''I'' has the form ''me'' when a direct object).  In non-DOM languages, by contrast, direct objects are uniformly marked in a single way. For instance, [Quechua](/source/Quechua_language) marks all direct objects with the direct-object ending ''-ta.''

A common basis for differentially marking direct objects is the notion of "prominence," which reflects two properties that can be understood along decreasing scales:<ref name=aissenthree/>
:[Animacy](/source/Animacy):  ''human > animate > inanimate''
:[Definiteness](/source/Definiteness) (or specificity):  ''personal pronoun > proper name > definite [NP](/source/Noun_phrase) > indefinite specific NP > non-specific NP''
These same scales are also reflected in [Silverstein](/source/Michael_Silverstein)’s person/animacy hierarchy.<ref name=silverstein>Silverstein, Michael. (1976) "Hierarchy of Features and Ergativity". In R. M. W. Dixon (ed.) ''Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages''.</ref> Besides animacy and definiteness, another property that triggers differential object marking in some languages is the way the action of a verb affects the direct object.<ref name="bross">{{Cite journal|last=Bross|first=Fabian|year=2020|title=Object marking in German Sign Language (''Deutsche Gebärdensprache''): Differential object marking and object shift in the visual modality|url=https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/id/5311/|journal=Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics |volume=5|issue=1|page=63|doi=10.5334/gjgl.992|s2cid=220333386 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some languages mark for only one of these  properties (e.g., animacy), while others' markings reflect combinations of them. Typically, direct objects that are more prominent are more likely to be overtly case-marked.<ref name=aissenthree>{{Harvnb|Aissen|2003}}</ref>

thumb|Triggers of differential object marking

== Examples ==
=== Spanish ===
A well-known DOM language is [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language). In Spanish, direct objects that are both human and specific require a special marker (the preposition ''a'' "to"):<ref>Fernández Ramírez, Salvador. 1986. ''Gramática española 4. El verbo y la oración''. Madrid: Arco/Libros.</ref>{{Sfn|Pensado|1995}}{{sfn|Rodríguez-Mondoñedo|2007}}{{sfn|Torrego|1998}}

*''Pedro besó a Lucía.'' = Peter kissed Lucy. (Literally, "Peter kissed '''to''' Lucy")

Inanimate direct objects do not usually allow this marker, even if they are specific:

*''Pedro besó el retrato.'' = Peter kissed the picture.

Yet, some animate objects that are specific can optionally bear the marker:

*''Pedro vio (a) la gata.'' = Peter saw (to) the cat<small>-FEM</small>

Some dialectal variation has been attested regarding the use of DOM in different varieties of Spanish. Balasch finds that, while the linguistic factors conditioning the use of DOM remain the same in both Mérida (Venezuela) Spanish and Madrid Spanish, DOM appears much more often in Madrid data.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wss/5/paper2511.pdf|title=Factors Determining Spanish Differential Object Marking within Its Domain of Variation|last=Balasch|first=Sonia|date=December 22, 2016|website=Factors Determining Spanish Differential Object Marking within Its Domain of Variation|publisher=University of New Mexico|access-date=December 22, 2016}}</ref> Furthermore, Tippets and Schwenter find that a factor known as "relative animacy"  (the animacy of the direct object relative to that of the subject) is quite important in the implementation of DOM in varieties of Spanish such as Buenos Aires and Madrid Spanish.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tippets |first=Ian |last2=Schwenter |first2=Scott |date=December 22, 2016 |title=Relative Animacy and Differential Object Marking in Spanish |url=https://www.ling.upenn.edu/NWAV/abstracts/nwav36_schwenter_tippets.pdf |access-date= |website=ling.upenn.edu |publisher=The Ohio State University}}</ref>

=== Sakha ===
In languages like [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language), [Kazakh](/source/Kazakh_language) and [Sakha](/source/Sakha_language), more "prominent" objects take an overt accusative marker while nonspecific ones do not. Lack of an overt case marker can restrict an object's [distribution](/source/word_order) in the sentence.<ref name=vdv>van de Visser, Mario. (2006) "The Marked Status of Ergativity". PhD. Dissertation.</ref> Those orders are permitted in Sakha if accusative case is overtly expressed:

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=a.
| кини яблоко-ну сии-р-∅
| kini yabloko-nu sii-r-∅<ref name=vdv/>
| NOM apple-ACC eat
| ‘She/he is eating the/a (particular) apple.’}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=b.
| яблоко-ну кини сии-р-∅
| yabloko-nu kini sii-r-∅
|}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=c.
| кини сии-р-∅ яблоко-ну
| kini sii-r-∅ yabloko-nu
|}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=d.
| кини яблоко-ну бүгүн сии-р-∅
| kini yabloko-nu bügün sii-r-∅
| NOM apple-ACC today eat
| ‘She/he is eating the/a (particular) apple today.’}}

However, when the object is nonspecific, only the first (a) of the following sentences is grammatical, while alternative ordering as in the other three sentences (b-d) is not permitted (an asterisk * marks ungrammatical sentences):

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=a.
| кини яблоко сии-р-∅
| kini yabloko sii-r-∅<ref name=vdv/>
| NOM apple eat
| ‘She/he is eating some apple or other.’}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=b.
| *яблоко кини сии-р-∅
| yabloko kini sii-r-∅
|}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=c.
| *кини сии-р-∅ яблоко
| kini sii-r-∅ yabloko
|}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=sah|glossing=link|number=d.
| *кини яблоко бүгүн сии-р-∅
| kini yabloko bügün sii-r-∅	
| NOM apple today eat
| ‘She/he is eating some apple or other today.’}}

When the direct object is low on the definiteness scale, it must directly precede the verb, whereas alternative ordering is possible when the direct object is higher in prominence.

===Other languages===

Other examples of languages with differential object marking are [Persian](/source/Persian_language), [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language), [Copala Triqui](/source/Copala_Triqui), [Khasi](/source/Khasi_language), [Tamil](/source/Tamil_language), [Malayalam](/source/Malayalam_language), [Hindi](/source/Hindustani_language), [Marathi](/source/Marathi_language), [Kham](/source/Kham_language), [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language) and [Amharic](/source/Amharic_language). A number of languages in Mozambique also show differential object marking.<ref>Ngunga, Armindo Saúl Atelela, Fábio Bonfim Duarte, and Quesler Fagundes Camargos. 2016. Differential object marking in Mozambican languages. ''Diversity in African languages'' pp. 333ff. Doris L. Payne, Sara Pacchiarotti, Mokaya Bosire, eds. Language Science Press.</ref>
In Turkish, the direct object can either have accusative case or have no (visible) case at all; when it has accusative case, it is interpreted as specific (e.g. one specific person), and otherwise it is interpreted as nonspecific (e.g. some person).<ref>See Jaklin Kornfilt and Klaus von Heusinger (2005). The case of the direct object in Turkish. Semantics, syntax and morphology. In ''Turkic Languages'' 9, 3–44</ref> Most modern [Indo-Aryan languages](/source/Indo-Aryan_languages) like [Hindi](/source/Hindi) and [Marathi](/source/Marathi_language) also exhibit something similar, where direct objects must be explicitly marked as accusative in the case of definite or often animate participants.<ref name="marathi"/>{{rp|3}}<ref name="hindi"/>{{rp|327-334}} Due to the accusative and dative markers being identical for many [Indo-Aryan languages](/source/Indo-Aryan_languages), some analyses assert that the accusative case is always unmarked (like the nominative), and instead the dative markers are identical to those for differential object marking.<ref name="ia-alternate" />{{rp|5-12}}

Other DOM languages include some [Aromanian](/source/Aromanian_language) [dialects](/source/Aromanian_dialects), precisely those of [Krania](/source/Krania%2C_Elassona), in [Thessaly](/source/Thessaly), [Greece](/source/Greece); and in the western dialects of [Ohrid](/source/Ohrid), in [North Macedonia](/source/North_Macedonia). [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language) also has DOM through the marker {{lang|ro|pe}}, these two and Spanish being the only [Romance languages](/source/Romance_languages) with this linguistic feature.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jlc/13/1/article-p57_57.xml|title=The contact hypothesis revised: DOM in the South Slavic periphery|first=Eleni|last=Bužarovska|journal=[Journal of Language Contact](/source/Journal_of_Language_Contact)|volume=13|issue=1|pages=57–95|year=2020|doi=10.1163/19552629-bja10003|s2cid=225734803|url-access=subscription|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In addition to spoken languages, DOM is also found in some [sign language](/source/sign_language)s. In [German Sign Language](/source/German_Sign_Language), for example, animate direct objects receive an additional marker while inanimate direct objects do not.<ref name="bross" />

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="hindi">{{cite book |last1=de Hoop |first1=Helen |title=Chapter 12 - Differential Case-Marking in Hindi |date=2005-01-01 |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978008044651650015X |work=Competition and Variation in Natural Languages |pages=321–345 |editor-last=Amberber |editor-first=Mengistu |series=Perspectives on Cognitive Science |place=Oxford |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-008044651-6/50015-x |access-date=2022-12-10 |last2=Narasimhan |first2=Bhuvana |chapter=Differential Case-Marking in Hindi |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1748-5 |isbn=9780080446516 |url=https://repository.ubn.ru.nl//bitstream/handle/2066/41233/247496.pdf |editor2-last=De Hoop |editor2-first=Helen}}</ref>
<ref name="marathi">{{Cite web |last1=Beck |first1=Christin |last2=Butt |first2=Miriam |last3=Deo |first3=Ashwini |date=2021 |title=Tracking Case Innovation: A Perspective from Marathi |url=https://ling.sprachwiss.uni-konstanz.de/pages/home/beck/presentations/Marathi_DOM.pdf |access-date=2022-12-10}}</ref>
<ref name="ia-alternate">{{Cite web |last=Bobaljik |first=Jonathan David |date=March 2017 |title=In defense of a universal: A brief note on case, agreement, and differential object marking |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bobaljik/files/bobaljik_2017_caseagrdom.pdf |access-date=2022-12-10}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal |last1=Aissen |first1=Judith |title=Differential Object Marking: Iconicity vs. Economy |journal=Natural Language & Linguistic Theory |date=2003 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=435–483 |doi=10.1023/A:1024109008573 |jstor=4048040 |s2cid=170258629 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4048040 |issn=0167-806X|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bossong |first1=Georg |title=Empirische Universalienforschung: Differentielle Objektmarkierung in den neuiranischen Sprachen |date=16 April 1985 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.4697660 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/4697660 |journal=Ars Linguistica |lang=de}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bossong |first1=Georg |title=Differential Object Marking in Romance and Beyond |journal=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |date=1991 |volume=69 |pages=143 |doi=10.1075/cilt.69.14bos |isbn=978-90-272-3566-4 |url=https://benjamins.com/catalog/cilt.69.14bos|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Pensado |editor1-first=Carmen |date=1995 |title=El complemento directo preposicional |place=Madrid |publisher=Visor Libros |series=Gramática del Español |lang=es |isbn= 978-84-7522-456-5}}
* {{Cite thesis| last=Rodríguez-Mondoñedo |first=Miguel |year=2007 |title=The Syntax of Objects. Agree and Differential Object Marking |publisher=University of Connecticut |type=PhD |url=http://mypage.iu.edu/~migrodri/papers/rodriguez-mondonedo2007.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524194315/http://mypage.iu.edu/~migrodri/papers/rodriguez-mondonedo2007.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-24 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Torrego |first1=Esther |title=The dependencies of objects |date=1998 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=9780262201124 |series=Linguistic Inquiry Monographs |volume=34}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Differential Object Marking}}
Category:Grammatical cases
Category:Syntax

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Differential object marking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_object_marking) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_object_marking?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.