Definiteness in Slavic, Baltic, and Germanic

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper offers an exploration of a European linguistic area at the dawn of history and of shifting convergence zones (Sprachbünde) in Europe since prehistoric times. Its main focus is on the development of Adjective-Phrase Definiteness marking in Germanic, Baltic, and Slavic (§1). Traditionally this commonality among the three language groups has been considered a coincidence. But in recent years several comparativists have proclaimed it a result of areal convergence. This is an attractive idea for several reasons (§2), not least because Definiteness is a category that easily spreads through language contact, as the Standard Average European development shows (§3). The paper addresses the question how Adjective-Phrase Definiteness marking might have arisen or been propagated among these three language groups, and several hypothetical contact scenarios are worked out in detail (§§4–5). An excursus highlights the conceptual apparatus applied here and some outstanding issues (§6). The conclusion evaluates the alternative hypothetical scenarios of change (§7).