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From: dallison@beta.tricity.wsu.edu (David Allison)
Subject: Re: Query: Indefinite articles invented only once?
Sender: news@serval.net.wsu.edu (News)
Message-ID: <DAJ509.6L0@serval.net.wsu.edu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 1995 08:39:55 GMT
Reply-To: dallison@beta.tricity.wsu.edu (David Allison)
References: <DAC7uG.Lro@world.std.com>
Organization: Washington State University
Lines: 19

> 
Query: Indefinite articles invented only once?
> 
jcf@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman)
> Sat, 17 Jun 1995 22:01:27 GMT
> The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
> 
>Definite articles, to my knowledge, are widespread, occurring e.g. in
> Semitic as well as (modern) IE languages.  However, of all the
> languages in my small acquaintance, only modern Western European ones
> (Romance & Germanic) have indefinite articles (all descended from the
> numeral _one_).  Does this represent the spread of a single invention?
> And has it happened elsewhere?
> -- 
>         Joe Fineman 

Indefinite articles occur in Polynesian.

--      David Allison
