Accusativeillum

Accusativeillum is a term used in linguistics to describe a proposed morphosyntactic phenomenon in which the accusative case is systematically associated with an illumination marker that signals focus or salience of the object. The concept is mainly discussed in theoretical syntax and in discussions of constructed languages, rather than as a widespread feature of natural languages.

Etymology and scope: The name combines accusative with illum, drawing on the idea of illumination as a metaphor for discourse prominence. The term is used to describe potential typological patterns and hypothetical constructions rather than established facts about existing languages. It serves as a label for a family of patterns in which object marking carries an additional pragmatic or informational function.

Typology and realization: In languages proposed to exhibit accusativeillum, a word forming the object may bear a standard accusative ending, while a secondary marker, clitic, or vowel alteration marks illumination. This marker signals that the object is in focus or highly salient in the discourse. The illumination marker can attach to the accusative as a suffix, appear as a separate clitic, or be realized through prosodic emphasis. The pattern may interact with word order, topic marking, and discourse structure, and it is often described in speculative or conlang contexts.

Example: In a hypothetical Language X, the object form carries -o as the accusative. When the object is in focus, an illumination marker -lum is added after the accusative, yielding -o-lum. Neutral sentence: I see dog-o. Focused sentence: I see dog-o-lum. Gloss: I see ACC-ILLUM dog. Translation: I see the illuminated dog.

Reception and criticism: Accusativeillum is a speculative construct used to explore how case marking might encode discourse functions. Some linguists view it as a useful thought experiment for typology and conlang design, while others question its empirical relevance to natural languages. See also: accusative case, focus marking, constructed languages.