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Walking on the Grammaticalization Path of the Definite Article: Functional Main and Side Roads
Edited by Renata Szczepaniak and Johanna Flick
[Studies in Language Variation 23] 2020
► pp. 227–250

Die Capital – der Astra – das Adler

The emergence of a classifier system for proper names in German

German proper names can be divided into two large classes, i.e. one with and one without an obligatory definite article. It will be shown that this article is part of a classifier system, which provides semantic information about the referent. Furthermore, the inherited three-gender system in combination with the presence or absence of the article is used to create a new system of six proper name classes. This paper deals with a diachronic change where so-called junk is transferred into a new classifier system arguing for a case of exaptation with respect to the article and for a case of degrammaticalization with respect to gender. This development towards a classifier system has occurred rather recently. Its consolidation can be observed in Present-Day German and creates a high amount of variation.

Keywords: proper names, classifiers, definite article, onymic article, exaptation, degrammaticalization, language change, typological change, German
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.The system of German proper name classes
  • 2.Origin and function of onymic gender and the onymic article
    • 2.1Names without onymic articles
      • Names of towns
      • Names of countries
    • 2.2Personal names on their way to adopt onymic articles
    • 2.3Names with onymic articles (and their history)
    • 2.4Das Adler: Genesis of a beer brand’s name via a gender shift
  • 3.The current classifier system as a result of exaptation
    • 3.1+/− Article & gender as noun classifiers
    • 3.2Exaptation of the article to a classifier: A side road
    • 3.3Strengthening of gender to a classifier: A case of degrammaticalization
  • 4.Summary
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 April 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.23.08nub
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