Grammaticalization of the Definite Article in Armenian

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_7617
dc.title	Grammaticalization of the Definite Article in Armenian
dc.contributor.author	Hodgson Katherine
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Venice University Press, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/armeniaca/2022/1/grammaticalization-of-the-definite-article-in-arme/
dc.description.abstract	The Classical Armenian definite article system is unusual for Indo-European, but paralleled in prehistoric common Kartvelian. It may represent an intermediate stage in grammaticalization between demonstratives and definite articles. The Kartvelian articles progressed further down the path of grammaticalization, becoming markers of argument status, and eventually being incorporated into the case system. It has been suggested that the modern Armenian definite article has also progressed further than the stage of definiteness marking, becoming a marker of specificity, but in fact, its non-definite uses are better described as associated with nominalisation, and in particular with core argument status, than with specificity.
dc.relation.ispartof	Armeniaca
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 1 – Ottobre 2022
dc.issued	2022-10-28
dc.dateAccepted	2022-03-23
dc.dateSubmitted	2021-12-20
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2974-6051
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/arm/9372-8175/2022/01/008
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Armenian
dc.subject	Definite article
dc.subject	Definiteness
dc.subject	Grammaticalization
dc.subject	Indo-European
dc.subject	Kartvelian
dc.subject	Language contact
dc.subject	Specificity

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

Katherine Hodgson University of Cambridge, UK

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abstract

The Classical Armenian definite article system is unusual for Indo-European, but paralleled in prehistoric common Kartvelian. It may represent an intermediate stage in grammaticalization between demonstratives and definite articles. The Kartvelian articles progressed further down the path of grammaticalization, becoming markers of argument status, and eventually being incorporated into the case system. It has been suggested that the modern Armenian definite article has also progressed further than the stage of definiteness marking, becoming a marker of specificity, but in fact, its non-definite uses are better described as associated with nominalisation, and in particular with core argument status, than with specificity.

Published

Oct. 28, 2022

Accepted

March 23, 2022

Submitted

Dec. 20, 2021

Language

Keywords: Kartvelian • Definite article • Indo-European • Specificity • Language contact • Definiteness • Grammaticalization • Armenian

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/arm/9372-8175/2022/01/008

Copyright: © 2022 Katherine Hodgson. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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