Brazilian Portuguese null objects and Spanish differential object marking (original) (raw)
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Two Kinds of Differential Object Marking in Portuguese and Spanish
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The prepositional marking of direct objects in Spanish is a well-known instance of Differential Object Marking (DOM), driven mainly by animacy and specificity. But it is not the only domain where Ibero-Romance object marking varies due to semantic factors: Spanish and Portuguese feature several patterns of heterogeneous object marking. This paper provides a comparative overview of prepositional DOM, also known as a-marking, leísmo and null objects. All three phenomena are found in both languages, but with considerable differences among their varieties in Europe and Latin America. It is argued that where they are present in a certain variety, they are always based on the same scale that ranks all potential direct objects with respect to specificity, animacy, (pro-)nominality and gender. This Ibero-Romance object marking scale is their most central common denominator, which is why I propose "scale-based object marking" as an umbrella term.
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In this paper we provide a comprehensive picture of differential object marking in Catalan, focusing on both the empirical facts and their theoretical contribution. We support some important conclusions. First, Catalan differential object marking is quite a robust and widespread phenomenon, contrary to what prescriptive grammars assume. Second, we show that, from a formal perspective, Catalan differential object marking cannot be completely subsumed under hierarchical generalizations known as scales. The contribution of narrow syntax mechanisms and nominal structure is fundamental, supporting recent views by López (2012) or Ormazabal and Romero (2007, 2010, 2013a, b), a.o. Building on these works as well as on observations initially made by Cornilescu (2000) and Rodríguez-Mondoñedo (2007), a.o., we adopt an analysis under which canonical, animacy-based differential marking results from the presence of an additional (PERSON) feature, beyond Case. This structural make-up is not only a...
Animacy restrictions on null objects in European Portuguese
This paper investigates the role of animacy for the distribution of clitics and null objects in European Portuguese. Existing corpus data suggest that in spontaneous speech speakers prefer null objects with inanimate referents but clitics with animate referents. A new acceptability judgment experiment shows that clitics receive high acceptance rates with animate and inanimate referents but null objects are only marginally accepted with animates. I propose that the variation between null objects and clitics is determined by two factors: first, register (Standard Portuguese vs. colloquial speech) and second, the structure and feature composition of clitic pronouns and null objects.
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