Grammatikalizacija opredelennogo i neopredelennogo artiklja v slovenskom jazykovom areale

Here we present an analysis of the use of the definite and indefinite articles in the Slovene dialects spoken in Friuli and in colloquial Slovene. As regards the definite article one encounters a highly homogeneous situation: the process of grammaticalization seems to have been completed everywhere and the form expresses, with a certain degree of variation, all functions that are usually present in languages that posses such an article. Another picture emerges for the indefinite article: whereas in the Slovene dialects spoken in Friuli grammaticalization is almost total (expressing specific, non specific and generic functions), in Slovene dialects that are geographically distant from the contact zone with Romance only and exclusively the specific function is expressed.