Differential object marking and information structure: on the function of two different pronominal accusatives in Komi and Khanty dialects

The present contribution calls attention to a marginal but interesting phenomenon of variation in grammar, namely the employ- ment of two different accusative markings for pronominal objects encountered (i) in dialect texts from the Komi varieties of Upper Vym' and Luza, and (ii) in varieties of Kazym-Khanty, i.e. in two different branches of Uralic (Permic and Ugric). Based on contextual observa- tions an explanation in terms of information structure is achieved: as will be argued, in both language varieties, additional accusative forms of pronominal object expressions signal their focality resp. non-focal- ity. The study contributes to the theory of differential object marking by establishing focality as one of its parameters.