Bare singular nouns in Middle Norwegian

Abstract

Old Norwegian allowed bare singular count nouns (BSNs) to a greater extent than Modern Norwegian. This chapter discusses BSNs in the transitional period between these two language stages, Middle Norwegian. It is shown that although BSNs are not very frequent in Middle Norwegian, they do occur, especially with indefinite interpretation; their distribution also seems compatible with previous suggestions that the indefinite article went through a stage of marking specificity. On the basis of these findings it is argued that a nominal structure different from that found in Modern Norwegian was retained until quite late, at least in some speakers.