The partitive article in Old Italian: The earliest stages of the grammaticalization of the Italian partitive article

Two different constructions of Old Italian have been connected to the Modern Italian partitive article: the construction formed by the preposition di followed by a noun without a definite article and the construction featuring the same preposition followed by the definite article and a noun. The latter construction shows the same formation as the partitive article in Modern Italian. In this paper we survey the function of the two constructions in Old Italian and show how they relate to the Modern Italian partitive article. In particular, we argue that the occurrence of the construction containing a noun without the definite article was limited to certain specific contexts, while the construction with the definite article, contrary to common assumptions, did not only occur within the partitive nominal construction, but also extended to the coding of indefiniteness, and could occur not only with direct objects but occasionally even with subjects. This distribution provides compelling evidence for the conclusion that the construction formed by di plus the definite article in Old Italian had already started undergoing grammaticalization in the direction of the Modern Italian partitive article.