Differential Object Marking (henceforth, DOM) in Spanish involves the use of the object marker a to overtly mark certain direct objects (Juan conoce a la mamá de Pedro.). The literature on this phenomenon is extensive. Previous typological/functionalist work (e.g. Aissen 2003, Croft 2003, von Heusinger and Kaiser 2007) has characterized the likelihood of DOM in terms of properties of the direct object including animacy, definiteness and specificity. According to recent grammatical variationist work on Mexican Spanish (Lizarraga Navarro and Mora-Bustos 2010), these two factors are the most highly correlated with overt DOM in Spanish. While some empirical studies corroborate portions of these findings (e.g. von Heusinger 2008), none have provided a complete quantified analysis of the entire set of features as discussed in terms of the Referentiality Scale (von Heusinger 2008) including specificity and non-argumentals for Modern European Spanish. This empirically-based corpus study investigates the distribution of DOM in the 20th and 21st Century European Spanish focusing on the features comprising the scales of animacy and referentiality. The results obtained in this study provide evidence that the referential features like specificity and definiteness are indeed significant factors that condition DOM along with verb type. This study also sheds light on the validity of the claim made in diachronic work for the systematic spread of DOM (e.g. Melis 1995, Laca 2006, von Heusinger and Kaiser 2010). / text

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Esta tese objetiva estudar a mudanÃa no sistema pronominal da lÃngua portuguesa, em suas variantes europeia e brasileira, no que tange à categoria de caso. Para isso, partimos da noÃÃo sociolinguÃstica de que toda mudanÃa à oriunda de um estÃgio anterior de variaÃÃo linguÃstica (WEINREICH; LABOV; HERZOG, 2006; LABOV, 1978, 1994, 2001, 2008 e 2010) e investigamos como variantes os pronomes o (a, os, as); ele (ela, eles, elas); lhe(s), alÃm da anÃfora zero na codificaÃÃo do caso acusativo. Como fatores condicionantes dessa mudanÃa, analisamos: o continuum oralidade/escrita; as propriedades semÃnticas do OD; o tipo da forma verbal que o acusativo complementa; a posiÃÃo do pronome; o perÃodo histÃrico; o sexo do informante; o nÃvel de escolaridade; a idade e a localidade. Propomos como tese que a perda da distinÃÃo da categoria caso nos pronomes pessoais em lÃngua portuguesa advÃm da deriva linguÃstica secular e um indÃcio que comprova esse fato està na convergÃncia linguÃstica de variantes do portuguÃs distantes geograficamente, mas que partilham fatores cognitivos e culturais (LABOV, 2010) dentro da lusofonia. Trabalhamos com duas amostras, uma escrita e outra oral, contendo textos das dÃcadas de 1970 a 2010 do portuguÃs brasileiro e do portuguÃs europeu, bem como com um teste de percepÃÃo e avaliaÃÃo das variantes aplicado a alunos da Universidade da Madeira. ApÃs descritos, os dados passaram por um tratamento estatÃstico no programa GOLDVARB X e depois foram analisados à luz do Sociofuncionalismo, uma vez que, alÃm da Teoria da VariaÃÃo e MudanÃa LinguÃstica, temos como base os princÃpios funcionalistas da iconicidade e da marcaÃÃo (GIVÃN, 1979b, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2009 e 2011). A partir do resultado do teste aplicado a 412 informantes do Funchal, pudemos mapear as variantes de prestÃgio e as estigmatizadas no PE-Insular. Por ordem de avaliaÃÃo, em sentido crescente de apreciaÃÃo, as variantes estÃo assim distribuÃdas: ele, lhe, anÃfora zero e clÃtico. Em seguida, partimos para a etapa de anÃlise dos dados de textos escritos e orais no portuguÃs europeu e no portuguÃs brasileiro. Para a variante o, foram selecionados os seguintes grupos de fatores como condicionantes: a) faixa etÃria (56 a 75); b) grau de escolaridade (ensino mÃdio e ensino superior); c) gÃnero textual (notÃcia e editorial); d) perÃodo histÃrico (dÃcadas de 70 e de 2000); e) propriedade semÃntica do objeto direto (+ humano); f) tipo da forma verbal (composta); g) localidade (Lisboa e Funchal) e h) continuum fala x escrita (escrita). Para o pronome ele, cinco fatores foram selecionados, a saber: a) faixa etÃria (36 a 55 e 56 a 75); b) 10 escolaridade (ensino fundamental); c) sexo do informante (feminino); d) localidade (Rio de Janeiro) e e) propriedade semÃntica do OD (+ humano). Para a anÃfora zero, foram selecionados os fatores a) faixa etÃria (18 a 35); b) gÃnero textual (entrevista); c) continuum fala x escrita (fala); d) perÃodo histÃrico (dÃcadas de 80, 90, 2010); e) localidade (Rio de Janeiro); f) traÃo semÃntico do objeto (- humano) e g) tipo da forma verbal (simples). Para o pronome lhe, apenas um fator condicionante foi selecionado, a propriedade semÃntica do objeto (+ humano). ApÃs analisados os dados, observamos microdomÃnios funcionais configurando uma sintaxe da lÃngua portuguesa pÃs-colonial: de um lado, estÃo o clÃtico e a anÃfora zero, as variantes nÃo marcadas, apresentando alta frequÃncia, mas motivaÃÃes opostas; por outro lado, as variantes marcadas cognitivamente e socialmente, ele e lhe, apresentam baixa frequÃncia e comportamento anÃlogo entre si. / This thesis aims to study the change in the pronominal system in Portuguese, in its European and Brazilian variants, regarding the category of case. Thereto, it considers that any change comes from an earlier stage of linguistic variation (Weinreich, Labov, Herzog, 2006; Labov, 1978, 1994, 2001, 2008, 2010) and investigates variants of pronouns o (a, os, as); ele (ela, eles, elas); lhe(s), in addition to zero anaphora. As conditioning factors of this change, it analyzes the oral or written continuum; the semantic properties of the direct object; the kind of verbal form that the accusative complements; the position of the pronoun; the historical period; the sex of the informant; the level of schooling; the age and the location. It proposes that the loss of the distinction of the case category in personal pronouns in Portuguese derives from the secular linguistic drift, and an evidence that proves this fact lies in the linguistic convergence of variants of Portuguese geographically distant but sharing cognitive and cultural factors (Labov, 2010) within Lusophony. It works with two samples, a written one and an oral one, containing texts from the 1970s to 2010 of Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, as well as a test of perception and evaluation of variants applied to students of the University of Madeira. After being described, the data were subjected to a statistical treatment in the GoldVarb X program and then analyzed in the light of Sociofunctionalism, since, besides the Theory of Variation and Linguistic Change, it is based on the functionalist principles of iconicity and marking (Givon, 1979b, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011). From the result of the test applied to 412 informants from Funchal, it was possible to map prestige variants and those stigmatized in European Portuguese peninsular. By order of evaluation, in an increasing sense of appreciation, the variants are distributed as it follows: ele, lhe, zero anaphora and o(a)(s). After that, it makes the analysis of the data of written and oral texts in European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. For variant o, the following groups of factors were selected as conditioning factors: a) Age group (56 to 75); b) education level (high school and higher education); c) textual genre (news and editorial); d) historical period (decades of 70 and 2000); e) semantic property of the direct object (+human); f) type of verbal form (compound); g) locality (Lisbon and Funchal); and h) continuum speech vs. writing (writing). As for the pronoun ele, five factors were selected, namely: a) age 12 range (36 to 55 and 56 to 75); b) schooling (elementary education); c) gender of the informant (female); d) locality (Rio de Janeiro); and e) semantic property of the direct object (+human). As for zero anaphora, the following factors were selected: a) age range (18 to 35); b) textual genre (interview); c) continuum speech vs. writing (speech); d) historical period (decades of 80, 90, 2010); e) locality (Rio de Janeiro); f) semantic trait of the object (âhuman) and g) type of the verbal form (simple). As for the pronoun lhe, only one conditioning factor was selected, the semantic property of the object (+human). After analyzing the data, functional microdomains were observed, configuring a syntax of the postcolonial Portuguese language: on the one hand, clitic o and zero anaphora, variants not marked, presenting high frequency, but opposite motivations; on the other hand, the variants marked cognitively and socially (ele and lhe) present low frequency and behavior analogous to each other.

This thesis deals with direct object nouns case-marked differentially. According to the commonly assumed generalization nouns marked with ACC case are prototypical objects representing high transitivity, whereas nouns marked with non-accusative cases are not. However, such a view ignores the possibility of a much finer distinction and fails to account for empirical data from languages with rich case morphology, such as Ukrainian. Given the complexity of the phenomenon under study the main objective of our investigation is to account exhaustively for all possible instances of non-accusative case marking and case alternations on direct objects in Ukrainian trying to classify and analyze the data by specifying the factors that condition the distinction ‘accusative versus non-accusative case marking’ and by integrating the phenomenon of differential object marking (DOM) into a formal model. We present DOM as a phenomenon that, together with the phenomenon of unaccusativity, can be subsumed under a broader concept of non-accusativity (defined as inability of verbs to assign ACC case). In this context we show that in Ukrainian and French morphosyntactic case realization has semantic underpinnings and that issues related to case valuation emanate from the intersection of different phenomena – DOM and nominal incorporation, DOM and verb typology, DOM and the process of (de)transitivization, and so on. However, the (morphosyntactic) visibility of those points of intersection varies from one language to another. Generativist distinction between syntactic (abstract) and morphological cases as well as the functionalist idea that case markings can be characterized as morphemes having different functional applications constitute the basis of our analysis of data. Using the typological views of these two approaches on the category of case as guidelines in our classification of collected data, we resort to minimalist formalism. Case is treated as an uninterpretable feature and a clear distinction is drawn between two types of case valuation – case checking and case assignment. Structural cases are checked during verb-raising and inherent (lexical) cases (among which we find predicate and default cases) are assigned either by a weak (or defective) v or by (an overt or null) preposition (P) in situ.

This thesis deals with direct object nouns case-marked differentially. According to the commonly assumed generalization nouns marked with ACC case are prototypical objects representing high transitivity, whereas nouns marked with non-accusative cases are not. However, such a view ignores the possibility of a much finer distinction and fails to account for empirical data from languages with rich case morphology, such as Ukrainian. Given the complexity of the phenomenon under study the main objective of our investigation is to account exhaustively for all possible instances of non-accusative case marking and case alternations on direct objects in Ukrainian trying to classify and analyze the data by specifying the factors that condition the distinction ‘accusative versus non-accusative case marking’ and by integrating the phenomenon of differential object marking (DOM) into a formal model. We present DOM as a phenomenon that, together with the phenomenon of unaccusativity, can be subsumed under a broader concept of non-accusativity (defined as inability of verbs to assign ACC case). In this context we show that in Ukrainian and French morphosyntactic case realization has semantic underpinnings and that issues related to case valuation emanate from the intersection of different phenomena – DOM and nominal incorporation, DOM and verb typology, DOM and the process of (de)transitivization, and so on. However, the (morphosyntactic) visibility of those points of intersection varies from one language to another. Generativist distinction between syntactic (abstract) and morphological cases as well as the functionalist idea that case markings can be characterized as morphemes having different functional applications constitute the basis of our analysis of data. Using the typological views of these two approaches on the category of case as guidelines in our classification of collected data, we resort to minimalist formalism. Case is treated as an uninterpretable feature and a clear distinction is drawn between two types of case valuation – case checking and case assignment. Structural cases are checked during verb-raising and inherent (lexical) cases (among which we find predicate and default cases) are assigned either by a weak (or defective) v or by (an overt or null) preposition (P) in situ.