The aim of this paper is to examine Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Balearic Catalan. While definiteness and animacy can explain the distribution of DOM in other varieties of Catalan, in Balearic, the split between marked and non-marked objects is not dependent on inherent or referential properties of the object noun phrases, but determined by topicality. A preposition is consistently used to mark a subset of topical objects, namely those occurring in clitic left-and right-dislocation structures, which correspond to two kinds of hearer-known topics: shifting topics and continuing topics. The preposition does not occur, however, with hanging topics, which introduce discourse-new topical entities. In this way, a correlation can be found between formal properties and well-motivated discourse functions that explains the distribution of DOM in Balearic. Similar patterns can be found in other Romance varieties as well, thus suggesting that topicality is relevant to account for both intra-and interlinguistic variation in DOM.

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In this paper the basic principles governing the expression of grammatical gender in Spanish are analysed, with the focus on the formal resources used for the expression of inclusive, or unmarked, gender. Alternatives to the use of inclusive gender (both visibility enhancing and concealing strategies) are considered, and their interpretative and cognitive implications are discussed in detail. The conclusion is that languages have their way to adjust to social needs. Linguistic change must respect the ecology of the system and the pace of spontaneous evolution, without external pressures and impositions. Speakers are the only legitimate owners of a language.

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