The loss of case system in Ardeshen Laz and its morphosyntactic consequences

Abstract Pazar (Atina) and Ardeshen are the two western dialects of Laz spoken in Turkey. Pazar exhibits alternating case patterns for arguments depending on their semantic denotation, while Ardeshen has lost its morphological case system. Yet, both dialects make use of a rich verbal agreement system. This paper aims to investigate the impact of the absence of case morphology on Ardeshen with specific emphasis on subjecthood. We will argue that Pazar Laz, retaining differentiated case marking for the subjects, typologically constitutes a clear example of Initiation-language. Ardeshen, on the other hand, has lost some of the Initiation-language properties available in Pazar, which we will argue to be correlated with the loss of its morphological case system.