What is it about?
In this paper I show that the morphological distinction of "strong" and "weak" forms adjectives in Gothic (as well as related older Germanic languages), realises a more complex pattern of referential distinctions than traditionally assumed. While the "strong" forms are indeed indefinite, the "weak" forms are definite when they come together in a periphrastic construction with a definite determiner, and indefinite when they occur on their own. Contrary to the convention, I show that the "weak" form is not triggered by the definite determiner. These conclusions are supported by comparative evidence from the Baltic languages.
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Why is it important?
The evidence presented in this paper will help revise the traditional scenario of the development of the dual system of adjective inflection in Germanic. It also contributes to linguistic theory by adducing a peculiar example of nominal periphrasis that realises a morphosyntactic feature of determination. As a whole, the Gothic conclusions present in themselves a hypothesis to be tested on the evidence of the other older Germanic languages with a view to examining the properties and development of this periphrastic construction across Germanic.
Perspectives
Having once been told that Germanic is "boring" for linguistic theory, I hope this paper will convince my theory-focused colleagues that Gothic and Germanic can be really exciting. The evidence reported in this paper also shows that, in spite of hundreds of dissertations, books and papers written on every aspect of Gothic in the last 200 years, it remains a wellspring of valuable information on the structure and development of Germanic languages that has yet to be properly mined.
Dr Arturas Ratkus
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This page is a summary of: Weak adjectives need not be definite, Indogermanische Forschungen, August 2018, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/if-2018-0002.
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