Case and referential properties Udo Klein 1 and Peter de Swart 2 1 Fakult¨atf¨ ur Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft Universit¨atBielefeld Universit¨atsstrasse25 Postfach 10 01 31 33501 Bielefeld Germany Tel: +49 521 106-67102 Fax: +49 521 106-89050 udo.klein@uni-bielefeld.de 2 Center for Language and Cognition Groningen University of Groningen PO BOX 716 9700 AS Groningen The Netherlands +31 (0)50 363-9114 P.J.F.de.Swart@rug.nl Corresponding author: Udo Klein Abstract In this paper we discuss a number of languages with a multidimen- sional Differential Object Marking (DOM) system. In such languages overt object marking is determined by more than one argument fea- ture such as animacy or definiteness. We will show that such argu- ment features can be related to case marking in different ways. On the one hand, they can trigger the occurrence of overt marking, on the other they can be the result of it. We will demonstrate that different languages may prioritize the different argument features in different ways. These cross-linguistic patterns call for a more flexible approach to DOM than hitherto developed. We develop a sign-based declara- tive model that does not rely on hierarchies but instead accounts for language-specific patterns and cross-linguistic variation on the basis of feature structures. Key words: differential object marking, hierarchies, animacy, defi- niteness, specificity 1