dativeshift

Dativeshift is a term in linguistics describing variation in how ditransitive sentences encode two internal arguments: the indirect object (the recipient) and the direct object (the theme). In languages with ditransitives, two common realizations are the double object construction (DOC), where the recipient precedes the theme after the verb (S V IO DO, as in “The teacher gave the student the book”), and the prepositional dative (PD), where the recipient is expressed as a prepositional phrase after the direct object (S V DO to IO, as in “The teacher gave the book to the student”). Dativeshift concerns how the dative argument can shift between these configurations, often for emphasis, information structure, or discourse focus.

In English, both DOC and PD are productive, and speakers can choose between them to highlight different participants or concerns. For example, “The teacher gave the student the book” centers the recipient, while “The teacher gave the book to the student” centers the theme and uses a to-phrase to mark the recipient. Other languages show similar or more extensive shift patterns, including alternatives in the order of accusative and dative objects, and sometimes involving case marking or additional prepositions.

Factors influencing dative shift include animacy and weight of the objects, pronoun vs. full noun phrasing, and discourse context or emphasis. Dativeshift is studied in theories of syntax and typology, with attention to how different languages encode recipient and theme arguments, how word order interacts with information structure, and what this reveals about underlying argument structure and case systems. It is a key topic in discussions of ditransitives, voice, and argument realization across languages.