Towards a formal model of Differential Object Marking in Tatar

Abstract

In this paper, we examine Differential Object Marking in Tatar building on Baker’s recent classification of Differential Object Marking across languages as derived either via object shift (Hindi), pseudo-noun-incorporation (Tamil), or both (Sakha). We argue that the seemingly similar phenomenon in Tatar cannot be accounted for by either object shift or pseudo-noun-incorporation. Specifically, we show that accusative objects need not appear in the objectshifted, VP-external position either at Spell-Out or post-Spell-Out. Moreover, we demonstrate that unmarked objects do not appear in a special structural position, such as head-adjoined to the verb or PF-adjacent to the verb. Instead, we propose that the contrast between accusative and unmarked objects in Tatar correlates with the internal structure of the object: accusative objects are DPs whereas unmarked objects are Small Nominals. We enumerate the contrasts between full-fledged DPs and Small Nominals and show that unmarked objects fit the cross-linguistic profile of the latter