dativeother

Dativeother is a term used in linguistic theory to describe a hypothetical pattern in which a dative marking interacts with a semantic element labeled “other” to indicate a secondary or additional recipient or beneficiary in ditransitive clauses. The concept combines the functional idea of the dative with a focus on an extra recipient, and it is primarily a tool for theoretical comparison rather than a widely attested grammatical category in natural languages.

In potential realizations, dativeother may appear as a suffix, clitic, or separate particle that attaches to the indirect object or sits alongside it. Its use can be optional or obligatory depending on the grammar, and its presence often aligns with information structure, discourse focus, or interaction with possession and animacy. The mechanism may coexist with standard dative marking or replace it in specific pragmatic contexts, highlighting a distinction between primary and secondary recipient roles.

Typologically, dativeother is discussed in the context of ditransitives and recipient encoding. The construct is usually contrasted with more established patterns such as double dative, differential object marking, or recipient-focused constructions. Proponents view dativeother as a lens for examining how languages differentiate multiple recipients and how discourse prominence influences case or particle marking.

Example (fictional language L):

Without dativeother: I gave the book to Sam.

With dativeother: I gave the book to Sam-DAT-OTHER. This signals that Sam is a recipient foregrounded in discourse together with an additional, unnamed recipient or beneficiary.

The concept remains largely theoretical and is used to explore cross-linguistic possibilities in how recipient roles are encoded. See also: dative case, ditransitive constructions, recipient marking.