Why traces of the feminine survive where they do, in Oslo and Istria

Abstract

The paper examines a surprising parallel in the development of the feminine gender in Oslo Norwegian on the one hand and Istro-Romanian (spoken in Croatia) on the other. In both cases, the feminine gender is lost on all ‘normal’ gender markers, but a trace of the feminine remains on the definite suffix, which is the ‘last redoubt’ of the feminine gender. An attempt is made to link this development to a slightly modified version of the Agreement Hierarchy. It is suggested that the Hierarchy may be linked to grammaticalisation, and that we should not draw too strict lines between different kinds of agreement.