Bárány András (MTA NYTI)  

DOM = DAT? Some syntactic properties of direct and indirect objects  

In this talk, I discuss languages with differential object marking (DOM), in which DOM is homophonous with dative. I discuss similarities and differences between the syntax of direct and indirect objects and propose that in many such languages, including Spanish and Hindi, DOM and dative are syncretic, i.e. only identical in morphology, but not in syntax. In contrast, languages with productive alignment alternations in ditransitives, for example the double object and prepositional dative constructions in English, allow for themes and recipients to show identical syntactic behaviour in addition to morphological identity.