Partitivity and object marking in Finnish and Lithuanian

Abstract

Lithuanian and Finnish both have alternations in object marking involving the notion of partitivity. In Finnish, the case of the direct object of transitive verbs alternates between the accusative and the partitive. Partitive is the default case for the object of a transitive verb and a special feature is required for the assignment of the accusative. In Lithua­nian, the case of the direct object of transitive verbs alternates between the accusative and the partitive genitive. Some functions of the Finnish parti­tive and the Lithuanian partitive genitive in object marking are identical, but some are markedly different. This paper offers an overview of the fac­tors that have been discussed in the literature as affecting the use of parti­tive cases, and also a comparison of their relevance and relative ranking in Finnish and Lithuanian. Keywords: partitivity, object marking, partitive, genitive, accusative, Finnish, Lithuanian