The case system of the Vilamovicean adjective – from description to explanation

Abstract

The present paper offers a detailed description and analysis of the adjectival declensional patterns in the Modern Vilamovicean language. Modern Vilamovicean possesses six declensional patterns, restricted to distinct environments, that, from a morphological perspective, form a continuum ranging from a strong declension (classes 1, 2 and 3) to a weak one (class 6), through intermediate mixed paradigms (classes 4 and 5). Nowadays, only the mixed and weak classes are productive and common. If compared with Classical Vilamovicean, the adjectival declension has suffered a process of syncretism and decay, evolving towards a two-case marking: nominative vs. accusative-dative in the masculine singular and  ominativeaccusative vs. dative elsewhere. Thus, the adjectival morphological case marking is more effective than in the nominal system (where no case distinction is usually made), but less successful than in the pronominal system (where a three-case distinction predominates). Within a typological-grammaticalisation framework, the inflectional organisation of Vilamovicean adjectives can be defined as an advanced case system.

Keywords: Germanic linguistics, endangered languages, case system, adjective, language change