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In this paper we discuss a number of languages with a multidimensional Differential Object Marking (DOM) system. In such languages overt object marking is determined by more than one argument feature such as animacy or definiteness. We will show that such argument features can be related to case marking in different ways. On the one hand, they can trigger the occurrence of overt marking, on the other they can be the result of it. We will demonstrate that different languages may prioritize the different argument features in different ways. These cross-linguistic patterns call for a more flexible approach to DOM than hitherto developed. We develop a sign-based declarative model that does not rely on hierarchies but instead accounts for language-specific patterns and cross-linguistic variation on the basis of feature structures. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this paper we will argue that a typology of passive formation can be derived from the optimality-theoretic interaction between three well-known constraints. These are the Extended Projection Principle (VP must have a subject), Stay (do not move) and Parse (elements from the input should occur in the output). The analysis will not only account for different forms of passives (personal passives versus impersonal passives) but also for languages which lack passives (of certain verbs or altogether). To account for this we employ the so-called null parse, a candidate without structure.