250 Artur Bartnik
(4) il mio Gianni /*mio Gianni
the.sg.nom.m my.sg.nom.m Gianni.sg.nom.m / my Gianni
‘my Gianni’
(Longobardi 1994: 623)
In the Germanic languages the construction is possible, though marked, and is pre-
ferred only by some speakers. Plank (1992: 455) argues that in contemporary German
some speakers prefer (5a), while others go for (5b):
(5) a. dieses Land von uns
this.sg.nom.n country of us
‘this country of ours’
b. dieses unser Land
this.sg.nom.n our.sg.nom.n country
‘our country’
We can find this construction even in Early Modern English, as is shown below:(6) Both of them used to talk pleasantly of this their first journey to London.
(James Boswell, Life of Johnson, 1791, Plank 1992: 454)
(7) Granting that the White Whale fully incites the hearts of this my savage
crew,...
(Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851, Plank 1992: 455)In Old English, determiner-possessive combinations are relatively common and have
been noted in the literature (cf. Kytö & Rissanen 1993). Bartnik (2007) found 207
examples in YCOE Taylor et al. 2003); Allen (2006: 153) cites 103 examples. Allen
notes that the majority of her examples come from Latin translations, which might
suggest Latin influence. However, examples from native texts are also found. Some
examples of the determiner-possessive combination are given below.(8) ða mine þeowas sindon
the.pl.nom my.pl.nom servants.pl.nom are
wisdomas & cræftas & soðe welan
wisdom and virtues and true riches
‘my servants are wisdom and virtues and true riches’
(coboeth,Bo:7.18.5.287)(9) and ðas ðine seseatlan
and these.pl.nom your.pl.nom sitting.pl.nom
synd mine gebroðra, Auitus and Særgius
are my.nom brothers.nom Auitus and Særgius
‘and these that sit with you are my brothers, Auitus and Særgius’
(coaelive,ÆLS_[Eugenia]:233.330)