Yury Lander (HSE University) Differential argument (un)marking: A new survey of alignment in West Circassian

West Circassian, also erroneously known as Adyghe, is usually characterized in literature as showing ergative alignment in morphology and possibly even in syntax (Gishev 1985; Kumakhov et al. 1996; Kumakhov & Vamling 2006; Kumakhov & Vamling 2009; Lander 2010; Letuchiy 2012; Ershova 2019 inter alia). In this talk I will show that if we consider differential argument marking (see, e.g., Arkadiev & Testelets 2019) and certain syntactic properties of nominals (such as those discussed in Arkadiev et al. 2009; Lander et al. 2021), the actual situation turns out to be much more complex. No novel data will be provided for scholars of Circassian languages, but I am going to discuss various kinds of pressure in the West Circassian alignment system and the related issues (including the distinction between the “canonical” differential object marking and incorporating processes and the alignment preferences displayed by different kinds of nominals).