The World Atlas of Language Structures Online

2 Responses to “Definite Articles”

1. Stefan Schumacher Says:
   September 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

   Basque should definitely (!) be placed under the category “definite affix”. The relevant sentences are to be found in Saltarelli et al. p.198, Section 2.1.1.8.1.: “The number marker is usually -0 for indefinite NPs, -a for definite singular NPs, -ak for definite plural absolutive NPs, and -e for definite plural ergative NPs. For inanimate locative NPs, the indefinite and definite plural forms are marked by the suffix -ta-”.
   Anyway, this should suffice to explain that it is impossible to speak of an “article word”, and consequently, Basque must be given the category “article affix”.

2. Martin Haspelmath Says:
   September 12th, 2008 at 11:30 am

   Please note the following passage in the chapter text:

   “In some languages, the definite marker is a clitic which can appear on nouns or on postnominal modifiers, most commonly on the final word in the noun phrase. Such definite clitics are not treated here as definite affixes, but as definite words, falling into one of the first two types.”

   So the author classifies the Basque article as a clitic because it is not always attached to the noun. This may not be in line with the traditional (spelling-based) view of the Basque article, but it is internally consistent.

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