Re: Probability of a definite article becoming a topicaliser?

Keith Gaughan wrote:

 > Something John said in the article replacement thread put an odd thought
 > in my head. Here goes:
 >
 > Say we have a language, and that language manages to (mostly) lose its
 > definite article. How probable is it that the remainents of the definite
 > article could become a topicaliser particle? Or more to the point, is
 > there any real language out there where this happened?


Zounds! You read my mind! This is more or less what I was going to ask
sometime over the next few days. Naturally, this means that I don't have
an answer. I was thinking about what would happen if Irish lost its
article: consonant-initial feminine nouns might still have a lentied
initials; thus they'd be marked definite, but this option wouldn't
be available for other nouns (except vowel-initial masculines). This
strikes me as very odd! (In other words, it might go into my next
lang, which is in the Meticulous Planning stage). But the odd thing
about my example is, I think, that not all nouns are susceptible. If
whatever trace of the articles remains can occur with any noun, then
its development into some pragmatic marker (like of topicality) seem
possible, methinks. Cool.

[In my planned lang, I'm using stress shifting to indicate topicality;
which mucks about with vowel qualities. And I don't give a damn that I
can't justify it!]

s.
--
Of smale houndes hadde she that she fedde     ||w::ataltane.net
With rosted flessh, or milk and wastrel-breed.||Stephen Mulraney
But soore wepte she if oon of hem were deed,  ||e::ataltane
Or if men smoot it with a yerde smerte.       || at ataltane.net
  - Chaucer~ The Canterbury Tales~ Gen. Prologue 146-149.