Based on the analysis followed here and the conclusions of other researchers, it has been argued that the Albanian language has not crystallized a special morphological form for the genitive and the dative case. The corruption of the former case system, namely the decline of the former (presupposed) old endings, has been accompanied by new phenomena, such as the generalization of a common marked morphological form that appears in those cases and functions where the genitive and dative used to. This case form also appears in those functions that were covered by the former ablative, testified by the presence of the maleshit form. The appearance of this phenomenon in the Albanian language, which affects three cases: the genitive, the dative and the ablative, cannot be explained based on the syncretism. This common morphological form of the noun is not able to perform the corresponding case functions of genitive and dative without the presence of the corresponding clitic. Its presence constitutes a syntactic necessity and its certain degree of grammaticalization can be seen as evidence of a grammatical construction, respectively of a case construction. This clitic is not part of the morphological structure of genitive, but part of a grammatical pattern, within which the function of the genitive case is realized. It is clearly distinguishable from another grammatical construction in the function of the dative case.
It seems that the Albanian language, at a certain stage of its development, has been innovative compared to other Balkan languages. It has shown a higher degree of abstraction, replacing the morphological case oppositions with the morphosyntactic one. This is evidenced by the crystallization of two grammatical constructions: (i) the genitive construction [noun + clitic + noun[+case]] and (ii) the dative construction [clitic + verb + noun[+case]]. Outside the frame of these two constructions, we cannot talk about genitive or dative case in the Albanian language. Neither the genitive nor the dative exists as morphological cases in this language. The acquisition of these two constructions can be seen as a tendency to eliminate the morphological opposition between the oblique cases of the Albanian language.
The theoretical approach followed in this paper, the relevant analysis and its conclusions, shift the focus of the scientific debate on the case system of the Albanian language, from the number of relevant cases (genitive or dative case) to the reconfiguration and re-presentation of the entire case system. The object of the analysis here was only the genitive case in relation to the dative case and partly to the ablative one. In order to reach general conclusions about the entire case system of the language Albanian, it is of great interest the study of the common morphological form for accusative and nominative.
LD
Leonard Dauti
3
articles
2
journals
15–2022