"The usage of case-marking for some objects and not for other objects is known as differential object marking (DOM). The aim of this question is to find out whether a language reveals differences in object marking conditioned by some characteristics (such as topicality, animacy, or definiteness) of an object. In Komi, definite inanimate objects may be unmarked (1a), whereas animate objects obligatorily take the accusative case (1b)."