Re: CHAT: Definite/Indefinite Article Distinction
| From: | Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...> |
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| Date: | Saturday, September 7, 2002, 16:10 |
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--- Andreas Johansson wrote:
> Jake X wrote:
> >and "ein Boot" (wait, is Boot das? it's been too long....)
You don't know this famous movie about the German submarine during WWII, titled
"Das Boot" (a U-Boot in this case...)
> The Germanic languages are pretty freeky in this regard - definite articles
> in both numbers, but the indefinite ones only show up in the singular.
Freaky perhaps, yes. But that quite logical if you consider the fact that they
were derived from the numeral "1". "One boats" would be quite contradictory, I
think.
However, I could imagine a conlang (or natlang, why not?) where the indefinite
article has its roots in a form like "some", "any", "of any kind". In such case
I don't see any reason for not having a plural form.
> What other languages with this lack of symmetry are there?
Isn't there some Romance language with a form like "uns"?
Jan
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"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones
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