Abstract
The category of animacy is the expression in grammar of the opposition between animate and inanimate beings. This category does not grammaticalize in every language and, even if it does, it almost never grammaticalizes in the same way. To show this, I will analyze here the animacy effects in two languages, which seem to grammaticalize in similar ways (Spanish and Russian). In these two languages, animacy mainly affects differential object marking (the so-called DOM). Unlike other European languages, both Russian and Spanish make use of DOM for animate objects (Veo a mi amigo / Я вижу своего друга), but there are independent factors that distinguish the Russian and the Spanish patterns. Having in mind the difficulties that learners of Russian and Spanish must face, I will offer a brief comparative of the acquisition of the DOM in these two languages by different types of speakers (speakers of L1, heritage language speakers and speakers of L2).
Highlights
Abstract. the category of animacy is the expression in grammar of the opposition between animate and inanimate beings
Differential object marking in Romance and beyond
Specificity and Differential Object Marking in Spanish
Summary
La categoría gramatical de la animicidad se define como la expresión en la gramática de ciertas lenguas de la oposición entre seres animados e inanimados. El marcado diferencial o DOM, en estas lenguas, se realiza a través de preposiciones, como la preposicion a del castellano, típica de los objetos indirectos (Le di el libro a Juan). En las dos lenguas que nos ocupan, el ruso y el castellano, coincide en principio no sólo la propia existencia de un marcado de caso diferencial o DOM, sino que también es paralela en ambas lenguas la correlación de dicho marcado con la categoría de animicidad, es decir, que se usa la preposición a o el caso genitivo-acusativo para objetos animados (3 a), mientras que los objetos inanimados no se marcan de manera especial (3 b). Esto no ocurre en otras lenguas europeas como el inglés o el francés, en las que todos los objetos directos se marcan de la misma manera (marca cero o sin marcado), siendo indistinta la categoría de animicidad:.
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