Differential Object Marking in Romanian as a heritage language

This cross-generational study investigated the potential vulnerability of DOM in the oral production of Romanian heritage speakers as a function of age of onset of bilingualism (simultaneous vs. sequential bilinguals). In Romanian DOM marking generally co-exists with accusative clitic doubling (CD). Fifty-two Romanian speakers in Romania, 32 Romanian immigrants who arrived to the US after age 18, and 29 heritage speakers of Romanian completed a written proficiency test and an oral narrative task. The results showed that DOM is vulnerable to erosion in heritage speakers of Romanian, and those speakers who omit DOM also omit CD. Age of onset of bilingualism modulated DOM and CD omission in heritage speakers: simultaneous bilinguals made more errors with DOM and CD than sequential bilinguals. The Romanian immigrants did not show attrition of DOM.