The ‘Definite Article’ TA in Colloquial Slovenian

This paper is a preliminary study of the Slovenian article-like element ta, typically called the 'colloquial definite article ' (Toporišič 2000, Orešnik 1994, Herrity 2000), which is associated to adjectives in noun phrases. We argue that ta is not comparable to polydefiniteness as known from Swedish, Greek, etc., but that it is essentially comparable to the adjectival 'long form ' in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian. We analyze ta as the subject of a small-clause–like prenominal modifier. Section 1 gives a description of the data, Section 2 contrasts ta to similar elements in other languages, and Section 3 proposes a structure for constructions with ta. 1. Description of TA and the environments it occurs in Although the article-like ta seems formally equivalent to a form of the demonstrative pronoun ta 'this', the two differ in various respects. The demonstrative ta and the article-like ta—in main text and word-for-word glosses henceforth designated by small-caps TA—can co-occur, (1a); the demonstrative carries stress, TA does not, (1a); the demonstrative agree