engleski

On article-like use of indefinite determiners jedan and neki in Croatian and other Slavic languages

In Slavic languages indefinite determiners can have determining function of an indefinite article and therefore function as a grounding element within a nominal, a fact that is either neglected or misinterpreted within grammar books. This paper thus addresses an issue of article-like use of indefinite determiners in Slavic languages, with special emphasis on Croatian jedan and neki. Further attention is devoted to Bulgarian, Macedonian and Upper Sorbian, as those are the languages in which indefinite determiner developed from numeral ‘one’ has been grammaticalized to the extent that it can be used as an indefinite article not only in indefinite specific, but in indefinite non-specific and, when it comes to Upper Sorbian, generic contexts as well. The paper focuses on different properties of the article-like use of indefinite determiners, e.g. their distribution or ability to combine with hierarchically lower means of grounding. These properties are consistent with the properties of indefinite articles in languages that have fully grammaticalized this grammatical category. The theoretical framework employed in this paper is that of functional-typological approaches to language and, to some extent, Cognitive Grammar.

indefinite determiner; indefinite article; specific and non-specific reference; grammaticalization; Slavic languages; determinative intensifier

nije evidentirano