Changing the functioning of the article in the history of the German language

Dolgopolova Liliya Anatol'evna ORCID: 0000-0003-1327-2454 Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov 295044, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, Bastionnaya str., 41, office. -- lilian2000@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Mustafaeva Alie Hairedinovna Senior Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov 295015, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, Educational lane 8 alie_mail@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The language is in constant development, which is accompanied by changes at all language levels, including grammatical ones. This is due to the continuous process of cognition of the surrounding world, as a result of which we gain new knowledge about objects, phenomena; about the connections and relationships between them. Our ideas about the world are changing, and the means of their verbalization are also undergoing changes.

Russian and foreign linguistics has paid and continues to pay great attention to historical changes in grammatical phenomena, significant parts of speech, representing a significant layer of linguistic wealth. At the same time, lexical and grammatical classes, which are traditionally classified as official parts of speech, often remain outside the scope of research. Their number and essence are determined by the grammatical structure of a particular language. Thus, in many modern European languages there are articles that primarily serve as a marker of the category of certainty / uncertainty.

The purpose of our study is to establish the peculiarities of the use of articles in the history of the German language. As an object of historical research, the articles of the German language are quite an interesting phenomenon, since their formation occurred at the early stages of the written period. This fact allows us to track the evolution of articles and establish the main trends in their further use.

Methodology

The theoretical basis for the interpretation of the grammatical status of the article was, first of all, the fundamental works of domestic linguists V. G. Admoni and V. M. Zhirmunsky, foreign ones – G. Paul, as well as the achievements of modern researchers E. V. Gorbunova, R. V. Zhavoronkova, etc.

The practical part of the study is based on the material of the Gospel of Luke, published in German at various periods of its development. The Synodal translation of the text into Russian is also used to illustrate the examples.

Research and results

Traditionally, in linguistics, the article is considered as a marker of the category of certainty/uncertainty of a number of modern languages ^{[19; 20]}, which is characterized as grammatical ^[20], functional-semantic ^[11] and textual ^[12], communicative-grammatical ^[8]. From the very beginning, two forms of expression were distinguished in German studies – the definite and indefinite article; over time, this opposition becomes three-membered due to the inclusion of the zero article in it ^{[4; 7]}. Today, in modern linguistic works, the concept of the article is used in narrow and broad meanings. In the first case, we are talking about two types of it – definite and indefinite – as means of expressing the category of certainty / uncertainty.

With a broad understanding of the article, we are talking about words that perform the function of determination and participate together with the noun in the formation of a nominal phrase ^[16]. This interpretation allows you to include in the group of articles any word form or morpheme that accompanies the noun, while expressing certain grammatical meanings. Thus, in this group there are definite/indefinite articles, W-articles, demonstratives, possessives, etc. In modern grammars, they are known as Artikelw?rter, Determinativ, Determinierer, Determinator ^[16].

The largest number of studies in recent decades have been conducted to identify the functional potential of articles. Over the past decades, such functions as the transmission of species semantics ^[1], individualization, classification, abstraction ^[3], text-forming function ^[5], emotional-excretory ^[10], etc. have been added to the traditionally attributed functions of generalization/individualization. This fact indicates the multifunctional nature of articles, which manifests itself directly at the textual level.

The material of our research is the text of the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1:1-45 in the following publications:

- Tatian: Lateinisch und altdeutsch mit ausf?hrlichem Glossar, second edition (hereinafter – T): gospel harmony, composed presumably in the II century AD by the Syrian Tatian in the Syriac language; later translated from Latin into the East Frankish dialect around 830. The text belongs to the Ancient High German period and is the source for our study ^[17];

- Lutherbibel 1545 (hereinafter - LB 1545): a translation of the Bible into German, carried out by Martin Luther and published in the complete edition of the Bible by Biblia Deudsch under his editorship in 1545. The text was created in the Early Upper German period ^[21];

- Lutherbibel 2017 (hereinafter – LB 2017): a modern edition of Luther's Bible adapted to the norms of the modern German language ^[15]. As a result of the adaptation, the old grammatical forms were replaced with new ones;

- BibleGateway (hereinafter – BG): an evangelical Christian website with adapted Bible text in various languages for easy reading and understanding ^[14];

- The New Testament. Synodal translation. Russian Russian text of the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1:1-45; we use it to illustrate examples in Russian ^[9].

A preliminary analysis of the texts showed that in order to convey the same situation in different periods of the history of the German language, the use of articles could not coincide, which is clearly shown by the following fragments:

Tatian:

1,1. Uuas in ? tagun Herodes thes cuninges Iudeno sumer biscof ? namen Zacharias fon themo uuehsale Abiases intin quena imo fon Aarones tohterun inti ira namo uuas Elisabeth ^[17].

Lutherbibel 1545:

5. ZV der zeit Herodis des K?niges J?dee / war ein Priester von der ordnung Abia / mit ? namen Zacharias / vnd sein Weib von den t?chtern Aaron / welche hies Elisabeth ^[21].

Lutherbibel 2017:

5. Zu der Zeit des Herodes, des K?nigs von Jud?a, lebte ein Priester von der Ordnung Abija mit ? Namen Zacharias, und seine Frau war von den T?chtern Aaron, die hie? Elisabeth ^[15].

BibleGateway:

5. Als Herodes ? K?nig von Jud?a war, lebte dort ein Priester namens Zacharias. Er geh?rte zur Dienstgruppe Abija. Wie Zacharias stammte auch seine Frau Elisabeth aus der Familie von Aaron ^[14].

The New Testament:

5. ‘In the days of Herod, king of Judah, there was a priest from the Abian family, named Zachariah, and his wife from the family of Aaron, her name was Elizabeth’ ^[9].

The Tatian text uses 14 nouns, among them 6 proper names. As a rule, proper names are limited in use with a definite/indefinite article. In the fragment we are considering, 5 proper names form a possessive nominal group and themselves act as determinants, designating the subject of possession: in ? tagun Herodes, thes cuninges Iudeno, ? namen Zachatias, fon themo uuehsale Abiases, fon Aarones tohterun: [NP N1 [D N2]].

The proper name Elisabeth performs the function of a predicative, which are also used most often with the zero article: ira namo uuas Elisabeth: [VP Vf Pr].

Among the remaining common nouns, we observe the use of the following types of determinants: 2 nominal groups with a definite article, 2 with a zero article, 2 with possessive pronouns and 1 with an indefinite pronoun.

Name groups with a specific article: thes cuninges and fon themo uuehsale Abiases. In the first case, we are dealing with the design of a noun group in the genitive case, where we are talking about a specific person – Herod, king of the Jews.

In the example of fon themo uuehsale Abiases, the article accompanies the group of the noun uuehsale ‘chred’ in the dative case with the preposition fon ‘from the Avian chred’, which also indicates a well-known genus named after the head of Abijah, a descendant of the high priest Aaron: [_PP P [_NP DA _[NP N ₁ [_NP D N]]]].

Nominal groups with a zero article: in ? tagun, sumer biscof ? namen Zachrias. According to their grammatical characteristics, both groups are unequal. The first nominal group is included, on the one hand, in the prepositional group with the preposition in, on the other hand, in the nominal possessive group with the proper name Herodes ‘In the days of Herod’: [_PP P [_NP ? [_NP N ₁ [_NP D N ₂]]]].

The nominal group namen Zacharias is also part of the previous nominal group and acts as its definition: (sumer biscof) ? namen Zacharias ‘priest ... named after Zacharias’ : [_NP D [_NP N ₁][_NP ? N ₂ [_NP D N ₃]].

The determinants (Det) of other nominal groups are the indefinite pronoun sumer ‘someone’: sumer biscof ‘priest', possessive pronouns imo ‘his’: quena imo ‘his wife’ and ira ‘her’: ira namo ‘her name'.

Thus, the main burden of determination in this fragment is carried out by proper names referring the recipient to well-known persons, or possessive pronouns that correlate with the subjects of the described situation. In general, we note the uniform (2 cases each) use of the definite and zero articles.

In the translation of Martin Luther Lutherbibel 1545, 13 nouns are involved, of which 6 proper names, the use of which completely coincides with the text of the Tatian. The only difference is the transfer of the name Aaron to the postposition of the noun being defined: den t? chtern Aaron.

In the fragment, we note 4 cases of using a certain article:

- ZV der zeit Herodis des K? niges J? dee ‘in the time/days of the king of Judah'. The definite article in two cases accompanies nouns with a determinative proper name and is included in the prepositional group: _[PP P [_NP DA [_NP N ₁ [_NP D N ₂]] [_NP DA [_N3 [_NP D N ₄]]]. The article in the first nominal group indicates a specific historical time frame, in the second – a specific person;

- von der ordnung Abia, ‘from the Avian family’ and von den t? chtern Aaron; ‘from the genus/daughters of Aaron’ where the nominal group with the determinative proper name is also part of the prepositional group _[PP P [_NP DA [_NP N ₁ [_NP D N ₂]].

We also note the presence of the use of one indefinite article: ein Priester‘ (a certain/one of the) priest’, where the article is included in the nominal group with the noun as a predicative: war ein Priester: [_VP Vf ? N], denoting a person who was not mentioned earlier. In this case, the article performs the function of a rhema marker in an utterance.

Zero article: mit ? namen Zacharias ‘by the name of Zacharias’, where a noun with a zero article and a proper name as a determinator are included in the prepositional group: [_PP P [_NP ? N ₁ [_NP D N ₂]]].

In contrast to the early text, we note an increase in the use of a definite article with the abstract noun ‘times’ and a nominal group, which includes the title ‘king’ and the toponym ‘Jewish'. The use of an indefinite article is new, which is believed to have been formed in the Middle High German period ^{[6, pp. 207-208; 2, p. 39]}. There is only one determinant in the text – the possessive pronoun sein ‘his’: sein Weib.

It is worth noting that the predominance of the determination of proper names in the genitive case remains, at the same time, the number of uses of a certain article in nominal groups with possessive proper names is doubling. At the same time, nominal groups are included in prepositional groups with the prepositions zu and von. The indefinite article is included in the nominal group, where the noun is a predicative; the null article participates in the formation of a nominal group with a determinative noun, which is part of the prepositional group.

In the new version of Luther's Lutherbibel 2017 Bible, the syntax of the original, including the distribution of articles, is preserved, which corresponds to the basic principle of translation and adaptation of biblical texts that do not allow any deviation in the transmission of the sacred word. Note, however, the use of a specific article with the proper name des Herodes, where the article reinforces the indication of a specific person: Zu der Zeit des Herodes, des K? nigs von Jud? a [_PP P [_NP DA [_NP N ₁ [_NP DA N ₂]]] [_NP DA [_NP N ₁ [_NP D N ₂]]]].

There are only 11 nouns in the text of the Christian site BibleGateway, among which the number of proper names remains the same – 6. Their syntactic role also does not change. In addition, the name Elisabeth from the predicative hie? Elisabeth (LB 2017) becomes the determinant of seine Frau Elisabeth: [_VP Vf Pr] [_NP D [_NP N ₁ [D N ₂]]].

The number of nominal groups in the text is reduced as follows:

- the complex nominal group in the function of the circumstance of time Zu der Zeit des Herodes, des K? nigs von Jud? a is replaced by the dependent clause Als Herodes K? nig von Jud? a war. As a result of the transformation, the nominal group Zu der Zeit is omitted ‘at the time’ [_PP P [_NP DA [_NP N ₁ [_NP DA N ₂]]] [_NP DA [_NP N ₃ [_NP D N ₄]]]][_S C [_NP N ₁ [_NP N ₂ [_PP P N ₃]_vp Vf]]];

- the nominal group, which is part of the prepositional group mit ? Namen Zacharias (LB 2017), is replaced by the frozen genitive form namens, which, as a result of grammaticalization, becomes an adverb: namens Zacharias. This leads to a simplification of the syntactic structure as a whole:

[_PP [_NP ? N₁[_NP N₂]][_NP Adv N].

It should also be noted the change in the design of the nominal group with the noun K? nig, where, unlike the early texts, the null article is used, cf.: des K? nigs von Jud? a (LB 2017) / ? K? nig von Jud? a (BG). We associate this fact with the transformation of the syntactic role of the nominal clause with the noun K? nig, which becomes a predicative:

[_NP D N₁[pp P [_NP N₂]] [_VP Vf [_NP ? N₁ [_PP P N3]]

Let's look at another piece of text.

Tatian:

3. Uuard th?, mit thiu her in ? biscofheite giordinot uuas in ? antreitu sines uuehsales fora ? gote, after ? giuuonu thes biscofheites, in ? l?zze framgieng, thaz her ? uuihrouh branti ingangenti in gotes tempal, inti al thiu menigi uuas thes folkes ?zze betonti in thero ziti thes rouhennes ^[17].

Lutherbibel 1545:

8 VND es begab sich / da er ? Priestersampt pfleget fur ? Gote / zur zeit seiner Ordnung

9 nach ? gewonheit des Priesterthums / vnd an jm war / das er reuchern solt / gieng er in den Tempel des HERRN

10 Vnd die gantze menge des Volcks war haussen vnd betet /vnter der stunde des Reuchens ^[21].

Lutherbibel 2017:

8 Und es begab sich, als Zacharias den Priesterdienst vor ? Gott versah, da seine Ordnung an der Reihe war,

9 dass ihn nach dem Brauch der Priesterschaft das Los traf, das R?ucheropfer darzubringen; und er ging in den Tempel des Herrn.

10 Und die ganze Menge des Volkes betete drau?en zur Stunde des R?ucheropfers ^[15].

BibleGateway:

8 Wieder einmal tat Zacharias seinen Dienst als ? Priester vor ? Gott, weil die Gruppe Abija an der Reihe war.

9 Wie ?blich wurde ausgelost, wer zur Ehre Gottes im Tempel den Weihrauch anz?nden sollte. Das Los fiel auf Zacharias.

10 Er betrat den Tempel, w?hrend die Volksmenge drau?en betete ^[14].

The New Testament:

8 One day, when he was serving before God in the order of his life,

9 By lot, as was customary with the priests, it fell to him to enter the temple of the LORD to burn incense,

10 and all the multitude of the people prayed outside during the incense ^[9].

The Tatian text uses 14 common nouns, one of them – biscofheite – is used twice. In the first case, in ? biscofheite, the nominal group included in the prepositional group with in involves the null article, in the second, the noun forms a possessive nominal group with a definite article: thes biscofheites. It is obvious that the zero article serves as a marker of the rhema in the first case and the theme in the second, which is typical for the means of expressing the category of certainty / uncertainty.

In total, the fragment contains 6 cases of using the zero article, 5 of the definite article; the possessive pronoun sins uuehsales ‘of one's own kind’ and the noun in the genitive case in gotes tempal ‘to the temple of the Lord’ participate as determinants. It should be noted that the zero article is found mainly in prepositional groups, most often with the preposition in: in ? biscofheite ‘among priests /in the priesthood’, in ? antreitu sins uuehsales ‘in the order of their order’, in ? l? zze ‘by lot’, as well as with the preposition fora ? gote ‘before God’ and after ? giuuonu ‘as usual': [PP P [NP ? N]]. In the expression ? uuihrouh (branti) ‘(smoke) incense’, the zero article accompanies the nominal group included in the verb group.

As we can see, we are mostly talking about abstract concepts – queue, priesthood, order, lot, custom, incense.

It is likely that the massive absence of a definite article in prepositional groups in the Old High German period eventually led to the emergence of stable prepositional groups with a zero article in the German language. This fact was noted at the time by V. M. Zhirmunsky ^{[6, p. 208]}.

As for the use of the definite article, in addition to the case we discussed above, it is also used with the collective noun crowd: al thiu menigi ‘the whole multitude’, where the article strengthens the determinative pronoun al ‘all’ in combination with the collective noun people: thes folkes; with the abstract name time: thero ziti ‘during'.

Let's highlight the nominal group formed by the infinitive in the possessive (genitive) case and the definite article: thes rouhennes ‘ (during) incense’, which serves as the definition of another nominal group: in thero ziti thes rouhennes [_PP P[_NP D N ₁[_NP D Vinfg/N ₂]]].

In the general German period, from four to eight cases of the infinitive are distinguished ^{[13, p. 39]}. Of these, only four are noted in all Germanic languages: nominative, genitive, dative and accusative; in the Old High German period, instrumentalis was also preserved for some time. The presence of these forms indicates that the infinitive at that time was a hybrid verb-nominal form, which makes it difficult to partially identify it.

It is known that the genitive case of nouns acts as a nominal, verbal and adjectival form ^[18]. It also stands for numerals, interrogative pronouns, negatives, etc. ^{[2, p. 43]}. In our case, with the infinitive, its nominal use is realized, and the definite article indicates a well-known ecclesiastical action. It should be noted that in the ancient High German period, the verbal use of the infinitive genitive was more common. This was facilitated by the presence in the language of a group of verbs with genitive control giniozan ‘to taste, to enjoy’, geban ‘to give’, gilusten ‘to bring joy’, jehan ‘to speak, to acknowledge’, antworten ‘to respond'.

The loss of the genitive form of the infinitive as a whole occurs in two directions. First, the verbal genitive, which serves to denote the relationship of belonging between the whole and its part (the dividing genitive or the partitive), is replaced, as a rule, by the form of the infinitive accusative. The causal one is the reinterpretation of verbs, which led to the development of new valence relationships. Secondly, the form of the genitive case of the infinitive with the meaning of belonging is replaced by the participle I and II.

The convergence of both verb forms – the infinitive and the participle – occurs in the Middle High German period. In Modern High German, the forms nemens and gebens develop from the genitive forms of the infinitive nemannes and gebennes ^{[6, p. 274]}.

Lutherbibel 1545. In the Martin Luther Bible there are 12 nouns, the nominal groups of which include two types of articles, among which there are 3 cases of using zero, 8 – definite; there is also 1 possessive pronoun in the determinator function.

The use of the null article coincides in three cases with the Tatian fragment: in the nominal group with the noun in the accusative ? Priestersampt (pfleget) ‘priesthood (to perform / carry out)’[VP [NP ? N] Vf]; in two prepositional groups – fur ? Gote ‘before God', nach ? gewonheit ‘as usual'.

Nominal groups in ? antreitu sins uuehsales (T) ‘are in order (in order)’ and ? uuihrouh (branti) ‘(to smoke) incense’(T) in Luther's text is replaced by the verb group vnd an jm war, or by the verb reuchern: das er reuchern solt, which leads to the exclusion of nominal groups in both cases:

in ? antreitu sins uuehsales (T) / vnd an jm war (LB 1545)

[_PP P [_NP ? N₁]][_NP D N₂] [_PP P [_VP PPr Vf]]

? uuihrouh branti (T) / reuchern solt (LB 1545)

[_VP [_NP ? N] Vf] [_VP Vinf Vf]

We also note the absence in Luther's text of prepositional and nominal groups in ? l? zze ‘by lot’, which also leads to a reduction in the use of articles.

The coincidence of nominal groups with a certain article in both texts is noted in 5 cases: thes biscofheites (T) / des Priesterthums (LB 1545), al thiu menigi thes folkes (T) / die gantze menge des Volcks (LB 1545), in thero ziti thes rouhennes (T) / vnter der stunde des Reuchens (LB 1545). In the last example, the infinitive form of the genitive thes rouhennes (T) is replaced by a substantive infinitive in the genitive des Reuchens:

[_PP P[_NP D N₁[_NP D Vinfg/N₂]]] [_PP P[_NP D N₁[_NP D N₂]]]

In other cases, the definite article participates in the design of the nominal group in den Tempel des HERRN ‘to the temple of the Lord’ (Tatian – gotes tempal). In the combination of the zur zeit seiner Ordnung ‘during its passage’, a definite article missing in the early text is introduced in the function of concretization.

Lutherbibel 2017. In the updated version of Luther's biblical text, we find 15 nouns, among which is the proper name Zacharias, which is absent in the early texts. The distribution of articles / determinants occurs as follows: 1 case of using the zero article, 12 – definite article, 1 – possessive pronoun. The zero article is used in the nominal group included in the prepositional vor ? Gott ‘before God’, which can be considered as an established archaic construction, or as a transformation of the Gott lexeme into a unique one, where the use of a definite article before a definite word is allowed, for example, der liebe Gott.

The main difference in the use of a definite article from previous texts concerns nominal groups with the noun Priesterschaft ‘priesthood'. In the texts of Tatian and Lutherbibel 1545, this lexeme appears in the first use with a zero article in the rhematic function, in the second with a definite article. In Lutherbibel 2017, in both cases we find a definite article: den Priesterdienst ‘priesthood, (nach dem Brauch) der Priesterschaft ‘among priests /in the priesthood'.

The definite article in the Lutherbibel 2017 version appears in prepositional nominal groups, where in early versions the null article is also used: an der Reihe ‘in the order of its own kind', nach dem Brauch ‘as usual'. It is likely that these constructions were formed at a later time, when the category of certainty / uncertainty was mainly formed and covered the entire lexical layer of the language.

The correspondence of the nominal prepositional group zur zeit is absent in the later text; at the same time, together with the dependent clause das er reuchern solt, an infinitive clause is used, which includes a nominal group with a definite article: das R? ucheropfer darzubringen ‘enter ... for incense’:

[s C [_NP PPr[_VP V_Inf Vf]]] [_VP [_NP D N] V_inf]]

We also note the appearance of a nominal group with the definite article das Los ‘(by) lot’, which is missing from Luther's original translation (LB 1545), but is used in the earliest text (T).

BibleGateway. The simplified version of the text uses 15 nominal groups, among which the proper name Zacharias occurs twice: tat Zacharias seinen Dienst ‘Zacharias carried out his service’, auf Zacharias ‘on Zacharias’, and Abija‘Avija’: die Gruppe Abija ‘Avian chreda’. In both cases, the names are preceded by the zero article, which is generally characteristic of the grammatical structure of the modern German language, as well as the presence of the zero article in the nominal group with the connector als (seinen Dienst) als ? Priester ‘as a priest’

The zero article is also located in the nominal possessive group with the noun Gott: (zur Ehre) ? Gottes.

Among the texts that differ from the previous ones is the use of the definite article in the nominal groups die Gruppe Abija ‘Avieva chreda'i zur Ehre ‘in honor’, which in modern German has a stable character. Both groups are missing in the early texts.

In addition, the fragment in question lacks a lexeme corresponding to the form infinitive genitive thes rouhennes (T).

The quantitative analysis of the articles in the texts analyzed by us indicates the unevenness of the use of articles, which we reflected in the table, where ? is the zero article, OA is the definite article, NA is the indefinite article:

Table 1

The use of articles in the Gospel of Luke 1:1-45

in different periods of the German language

As we can see, the earliest text of the Tatian is dominated by nominal groups with a zero article; the number of use of nominal groups with a definite article is much less; there is no indefinite article. According to V. M. Zhirmunsky, the indefinite article appears in the Old High German period, but is optional ^{[6, p. 207]}.

In the text of Lutherbibel 1545, we observe a significant decrease in the use of the zero article against the background of the growth of nominal groups with a definite article, as well as the appearance of nominal groups with an indefinite article.

In the adapted version of Luther's Bible, Lutherbibel 2017, the largest number of nominal groups with articles is noted, among which there is a noticeable increase in the use of a certain article.

The simplified version of the BibleGateway text shows, on the one hand, a sharp decrease in the number of nominal groups with a definite article; at the same time, the indicators of the zero and indefinite articles generally coincide with the text of Lutherbibel 2017.

The gap between the total number of articles of the texts of Tatian and Lutherbibel 1545 is explained by the fact that in the Middle High German period a system of articles had already developed and their use in the early Upper German period, to which Lutherbibel 1545 belongs, became mandatory; also during this period, new article functionality was additionally formed.

The difference in the number of uses of a certain article of the Lutherbibel 1545 text and its adapted version Lutherbibel 2017 can be explained by the introduction of new nominal groups, which, according to the intentions of the authors of the adaptation, contributes to a more complete understanding of what is described. Thus, the phrases die Gruppe Abija, an der Reihe, den Auftrag, etc. appear; in some cases, the definite article stands with the proper name: im geist vnd krafft Elias (LB 1545) / im Geist und in der Kraft des Elia (LB 2017) ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah’. In addition, we note cases of substitution in the adaptation of verb groups for nominal ones with a definite article, for example, das er reuchern solt (LB 1545) / das R? ucheropfer (LB 2017) ‘for incense'.

Conclusions

The article in the German language functions in its most ancient written period in two forms – zero and definite. The analysis shows that the zero article dominates significantly in early texts, mainly in prepositional nominal constructions, which eventually become stable. In this case, the determination of nouns occurs at the expense of proper names or common nouns in the possessive form, as well as indefinite or possessive pronouns.

The modification of the syntactic structure in the Middle and Early High German periods leads to the growth of a certain article, which in some positions displaces the zero article. The analysis of the dynamics of the use of articles shows a tendency to decrease the use of the zero and definite articles, while the indefinite article, starting from the Early High German period, demonstrates relative stability.

The decrease in the use of the zero article is explained by the following reasons:

- the absence of an indefinite article in the Old High German period; in some cases, in later texts, the null article is replaced by an indefinite one:

- determination occurs through the use of other means, such as indefinite pronouns such as: sumer biscof (T) / ein Priester (LB 1545 / LB 2017); possessive noun accompanying another nominal group: in ? gotes tempal (T) / in den Tempel des HERRN (LB 1545);

- the expansion of the functionality of a certain article as a result of a change in our ideas about Christian values: ? heilages geistes (T) / mit dem heiligen Geist (LB 1545).

The electronic text of the BibleGateway, created as a result of deviations from the canonical translation or processing of the Bible and corresponding to the modern syntactic structure as a whole, shows a tendency to decrease certain articles as a result of the restructuring of the syntactic system. The authors of the text abandon complex, often recursive nominal groups in favor of composites, verb groups or dependent clauses, which greatly facilitates the perception of the text.

List of symbols

Adv – circumstance

C – connector

D – determinator

DA- definite article

N is a proper name

NP – named group

P is a preposition

PP – prepositional group

Pr predicative

PPr is a possessive pronoun

S – offer

Vf is the finite form of the verb

Vinf is an infinitive

Vinfg – infinitive genitive

VN is a verb group