Author:

Keywords:

Social Sciences, Language & Linguistics, Linguistics, DIFFERENTIAL SUBJECT MARKING, ERGATIVE MARKING, SPLIT ERGATIVITY, DISCOURSE BASIS, OBJECT MARKING, CONSTRUCTIONS, ANIMACY, C14/18/034#54689580, 1702 Cognitive Sciences, 2004 Linguistics, Experimental Psychology, 4704 Linguistics

Abstract:

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd This paper presents a survey of the typology and diachrony of optional and alternating case marking, in the context of related phenomena such as referent- and construction-based splits. While there is much recent work in this area, driven by text-based approaches to language description, as well as quantitative and areal approaches to typology, the domain remains somewhat scattered, conceptually and terminologically. We chart the relevant phenomena, and we provide a typological survey of optional and alternating marking for A and O arguments. We also highlight some of the questions that remain, including problems with the classic model of case marking based on markedness reversal. A final section investigates the diachronic origins of optional case markers. These are largely similar to those for non-optional systems, apart from certain source domains, as well as factors related to information structure, both in the form of source domains and as constructional contexts playing a role in the development of the markers.