Abstract
We compared the acquisition of symmetrical and asymmetrical Differential Object Marking (DOM) within Estonian, which employs symmetrical DOM (alternation between overtly case-marked objects) with asymmetrical subsystems (alternation between marked and unmarked objects) for imperatives, impersonal voice constructions and plural objects. This difference in marking symmetry is linked to differences in form frequency and morphological complexity, with both factors affecting language acquisition. Through a detailed corpus analysis, we found that marking symmetry has an effect on one child’s DOM usage at ages 2;0 and 3;0. The child uses more marked objects overall and makes more errors of commission than omission in asymmetrical contexts, using case-marked objects in place of unmarked ones. Morphological complexity and frequency of form-function pairings were found to affect acquisition.
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