Differential argument marking and discourse prominence

Abstract Many languages exhibit some form of differential argument marking (DAM), where the same generalized argument role can be marked differently. Approaches explaining these phenomena have in common that they assume some form of ranking among linguistic elements of the same kind. While previous approaches emphasize this relative ranking based on semantic features (e.g., animacy, definiteness, transitivity) or information structure (e.g., topicality), several observations from the literature suggest that differential argument marking might also depend on discourse factors. In this contribution, we explore recent empirical work on differential argument marking in selected languages (Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Tima, Yali) and illustrate the discourse sensitivity of these phenomena. In particular, we present evidence that discourse prominence, i.e., the dynamic ranking and keeping track of referents in discourse, interacts with the phenomena under discussion. This contribution offers new perspectives on the interplay of differential argument marking and discourse prominence, highlighting perspectives for future research.