Olga M IŠESKA T OMIĆ (University of Novi Sad/University of Skopje)
Interaction of Balkan Sprachbund features with the structures of individual languages
On the example of possessive clitics – a distinct Balkan Sprachbund feature – I would like to show how typologically common morpho-syntactic features not only differ phonologically but also interact distinctly with the structures of individual languages and may have distinct functions.
In Bulgarian the possessive clitics are clitic dative personal pronouns that express possessive relationship to any object within the noun phrase or the clause:
(1) Bledo e liceto mu.
(2) Bledo mu e liceto. Bul pale is face+the 3Sg.M.Dat.Cl pale 3Sg.M.Dat.Cl is face+the
‘His face is pale.’
The Macedonian possessive clitics are clitic dative personal pronouns that also express possessive relationship within the noun phrase or the clause, but in the former case only nouns denoting family relationship can be modified by dative personal pronouns, which can moreover be plural only in the South Western Macedonian dialects.
(3) *Dojdoa decata ni.
(4) %Dojdoa sestri ni. Mac come.3Pl.Past children+the 3Pl.Dat.Cl come.3Pl.Past sisters 3Pl.Dat.Cl purported reading: ‘Our children came.’ ‘Our sisters came.’
In Modern Greek, the possessive clitics are clitic genitive personal pronouns that express possessive relationship within the noun phrase or the clause, but in the latter case they have very selective occurrence. In Romanian, the clitic dative personal pronouns can express possessive relationship within the noun phrase or the clause, but in the former case they are characterized as outdated or formal and poetic; moreover, possessive relationship of singular possessors to nouns denoting family relationship within the noun phrase is likewise, and more often, expressed by phonologically deficient pronominal possessive modifiers:
(5) %Este frumoasa maică- mi.
(6) Este frumoasa maică- mea. Rom is beautiful mother-1Sg.Dat.Cl is beautiful mother-my.Cl
‘My mother is beautiful.’
Singular phonologically deficient pronominal possessive modifiers also function as possessive modifiers in Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian noun phrases with nouns denoting family relationships, while the clitic dative personal pronouns in these languages can express possessive relationships only when they occur as clausal clitics. In the Arli Balkan Romani spoken in the capital of Macedonia, phonologically deficient singular pronominal possessive modifiers also function as possessive modifiers within noun phrases, though in other Arli dialects there are no clitic personal pronoun at all. Possessive clitics likewise occur in the noun phases of the Tosk
Albanian dialects neighboring with the South-Western Macedonian dialects; in this case, the possessive clitics are represented by agreement clitics, which usually occur to the right of nouns but are now placed to their immediate left.
The analysis of the Balkan possessive clitics indicates that the formal devices for the expression of a Balkan Sprachbund feature most often come from within the language, but the nature of the native material differs; features relating to distinct native items may even have the same function. The syntactic units in which the Balkan Sprachbund feature occurs and its inter-depen-

dence with formal devices to which it relates also differ. These facts demonstrate that typological features should be examined against the background of the systems of individual languages.
Moreover, the information that the use of a feature in neighboring dialects of given languages depends on relationships to items with analogous semantics points out that direct areal contact can lead to meaning equivalence of typological features.