Homophony of DOM and DAT: Morphology or syntax?, SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 06/06/2017

This Linguistics seminar titled “Homophony of DOM and DAT: Morphology or syntax?” was given by András Bárány (SOAS) at SOAS University of London on 21 March 2017

You can find out more about this event at https://goo.gl/oiA8a5
Find out more about Linguistics at SOAS at https://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/

In a number of languages with differential object marking (DOM), the exponent of DOM is homophonous with the exponent of dative case (DAT). Well-known examples include Spanish and Hindi, but the pattern is found elsewhere as well. In (1), from Spanish, "a" appears both with an animate and definite direct object (1a), as well as an inanimate indirect object (1b):

(1) a. Yo veo a la mujer.
         'I see the woman.'
     b. Yo devuelvo el libro a la biblioteca.
         'I return the book to the library.'

DOM is generally analysed as a phenomenon targeting direct objects (themes and patients), while DAT generally marks indirect objects (goals and recipients), i.e. DOM and DAT often mark distinct grammatical functions. The homophony of markers in (1) raises the question of whether direct objects triggering DOM and indirect objects have properties in common that direct objects without DOM lack.

The goal of this talk is to discuss such patterns in Spanish, Hindi, and varieties of Basque and Italian, in order to establish whether this homophony has a syntactic or a morphological basis, i.e. whether DOM objects behave syntactically like indirect objects and are therefore coded in the same way (the syntactic approach) or whether the pattern in question is better analysed as case syncretism of an accusative allomorph and dative (the morphological approach).

About the speaker
András Bárány received his PhD in 2015 from the University of Cambridge for a dissertation on differential case marking and agreement in Hungarian and other languages. His interests include the interactions of case and agreement in the languages of the world, and more broadly the interaction of syntax and morphology. He joined SOAS in January 2017 as a post-doctoral researcher on Irina Nikolaeva's AHRC-funded project "Prominent Possessors".