The noun phrase hierarchy and relational marking: Problems and counterevidence

Abstract A systematic collection of problems and counterexamples is presented for predictions of patterns of relational marking on noun phrases in terms of a noun phrase hierarchy (also known as animacy hierarchy), as conceived of by Silverstein (1976) and others. In seeking to account for case marking distributions that are at odds with the three main principles underlying the noun phrase hierarchy – role expectation, marking economy, scalar continuity –, the ordering of 1st and 2nd person pronouns on top of the hierarchy is given particular attention. Several ways of liberalizing noun phrase rankings in terms of feature systems, in particular an equal ranking for speech-act participants, are considered in order to square hierarchy predictions with the attested diversity of pronominal case marking in split alignment systems.

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