Re: articles

J. 'Mach' Wust wrote:

>  # 1 wrote:
>
> >I'd like to know if there are only some places in the worlds where
> >languages possess articles and also if the majority does or doesn't use
> >articles
>
> I think Slavic languages don't have them either, but I don't know for
sure.

then damien perrotin wrote:


> Well, many languages, including Indo-european languages (lavic excepted
> Bulgarian, Latin, Hittite, Gaullish....) don't have articles
Indeed, Bulgarian and Macedonian have definite articles-suffixes. This
feature is usu. explained in terms of the Balkan sprachbund.

Other Slavic langs have none.

===================
Stephen Mulraney wrote:

> You're right, they don't.
See exceptions above.

> I've heard it said that the Czech demonstative adjective,
> "ten, ta, to" (meaning "this", more or less) is being increasingly used as
> something like a definite article. Certainly I've seen almost article-like
uses
> of this (identical) word in Polish.
Well, I don't know if it counts linguisticly, but psychologicly it doesn't
count. As a person who speaks two article-less langs as L1 (Russian) and
L1.5 (Ukrainian), I would not percieve this as smth "like a def. article". I
find articles in English (and other Westran langs) difficult, but extremely
useful. Often while speaking Russian I feel like I lack a word to denote
in/definiteness is a short non-perifrastic way. OTOH, this may be done by
playing with word order and intonation in Ru. and Ukr...

-- Yitzik (still busy with Real Life TM)