Rise and fall of referentiality

In this paper, we look into expansion and spread of non-referential uses in articles in Philippine languages with special attention to two competing articles, ang and yung, in Tagalog. There are four claims we make in this paper. First, the functions of ang-marked nominals have been expanding from referential to non-referential uses. Second, yung is emerging as an article for referential nominals, taking over and expanding the referential uses of ang. Third, there is an emerging semantic distinction between ang and yung in spoken discourse: ang is for non-referential uses and yung for referential ones. Lastly, in other Philippine languages, as well, there is evidence of an existing article obtaining non-referential uses and a newer article emerging for referential nominals.