Optional and alternating case marking

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of the typology and diachrony of optional and alternating case marking, in the context of related phenomena such as referent- and construction-based splits. While there is much recent work in this area, driven by text-based approaches to language description, as well as quantitative and areal approaches to typology, the domain remains somewhat scattered, conceptually and terminologically. We chart the relevant phenomena, and we provide a typological survey of optional and alternating marking for A and O arguments. We also highlight some of the questions that remain, including problems with the classic model of case marking based on markedness reversal. A final section investigates the diachronic origins of optional case markers. These are largely similar to those for non-optional systems, apart from certain source domains, as well as factors related to information structure, both in the form of source domains and as constructional contexts playing a role in the development of the markers. Show more