Theoretically, we distinguish between nominal ellipsis and substantivization. "Cel" also occurs in polydefinite DPs, being preceded by a full definite DP (copilul meu cel cuminte child.DEF my DEF nice), with an information structure related function. In contrast to ORom and to the other Romance languages, Modern Romanian possesses two definite articles, in complementary distribution (Cornilescu 2004): (i) the suffixal article (-l, -a, -i, -le) attaches to the first noun or prenominal adjective of the DP (băiatul boy.DEF, frumosul băiat beautiful.DEF boy) (ii) the freestanding article "cel" occurs when the DP-initial position is occupied by a cardinal or ordinal quantifier (cei trei oameni DEF three men). The aim of the paper is to examine the relevance of this diachronic difference for the emergence of a second definite article ("cel") in Romanian. In Old Romanian (centuries 16-18), nominal ellipsis with (active/passive) past participles is licensed by the suffixal definite article, while in Modern Romanian it is the freestanding article "cel" that licenses ellipsis with participial or wh- remnants.
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