A minimal cartography of Dierential Object Marking in Spanish

Abstract

In this paper we use a minimal cartography to show that DOM constructions in Spanish have special properties that make them syntactically and semantically diferent from non-DOM constructions. First, a -marked DOs have a diferent un- derlying structure. In their structure there is a relational projection (RelP) which is modifed by Disjoint, giving the interpretation that the DP complement is a recipient of the action of the verb. Second, a -marked objects occupy a diferent position in the structure from non a -marked objects: while the former occupy the complement of proc(ess), the latter occupy a modifer position. By establishing these two diferences, we provide a unifed explanation for the special properties of DOM