- Dutch1
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
This section discusses one of the semantic core distinctions between noun phrases, namely, the distinction between definite and indefinite noun phrases. We start in Subsections I and II by showing that definite noun phrases are typically used to refer to some entity in domain D, whereas indefinite noun phrases are typically used to introduce some new entity into domain D. This does not mean, however, that the introduction of a new entity into domain D always requires the use of an indefinite noun phrase; in Subsection III, we will discuss several cases in which this can also be done by means of a definite noun phrase.
As their name suggests, the definite articles de and het serve to pick out a definite referent from the set denoted by their NP-complement; cf. the discussion of (1). This definite referent may be a specific entity or a group of entities in domain D. The former is the case if the nominal predicate is singular, as in (17).
a. | De kat | is ziek. | |
the cat | is ill |
b. | Het boek | is | gisteren | verzonden. | |
the book | has.been | yesterday | sent | ||
'The book was sent yesterday.' |
The noun phrase in example (17a) presupposes that domain D contains a single entity that satisfies the description provided by the NP kat, and it is predicated of this entity that it is ill. Because domain D consists of the shared knowledge of the speaker and listener, it is also typically assumed that the latter is able to uniquely identify this entity. The sentence in (17a) would be infelicitous if domain D contains two entities that satisfy the description of the NP; in that case, the description would be made more specific (e.g., de kater'the tomcat') in order to satisfy the requirement that a singular definite noun phrase refers to a unique entity. Similarly, the noun phrase in (17b) presupposes that there is only a single book that is part of domain D, and it is predicated of this book that it was sent yesterday.
If the noun phrase is plural, it does not refer to a single entity but to a set. Again, it is presupposed that the listener is able to uniquely identify this set. A speaker uttering a sentence like (18a) presupposes that the listener knows that he is referring to, for instance, his own two cats and the three cats of his friend Mary. Something similar holds for (18b).
a. | De katten | zijn | ziek. | |
the cats | are | ill |
b. | De boeken | zijn | gisteren | verzonden. | |
the books | have been | yesterday | sent |
The discussion above amounts to saying that the use of a definite article implies that set A in Figure 1 does not include all entities that satisfy the description of the NP, but only those entities that are part of domain D: the referent of the noun phrase is assumed to be identifiable for both the speaker and the addressee. In this sense definite noun phrases are typically D-linked. The same thing holds for definite noun phrases headed by a non-count noun as in De wijn staat in de keuken'The wine is in the kitchen'; cf. the discussion below (7).
The indefinite articles een'a' and ∅ lack the implication usually found with definite articles that the entities in set A are part of domain D, and hence known to both the speaker and the user. On the contrary, indefinite noun phrases are often used to introduce a new entity into domain D in so-called presentative clauses (clauses that introduce a new entity into domain D). Presentative clauses in which the indefinite noun phrase functions as the subject typically take the form of an expletive construction such as (19a). If the indefinite noun phrase has some other function in the clause, as in (19b), presentative clauses are not formally marked.
a. | Er | ligt | een lijk | in de tuin. | |
there | lies | a corpse | in the garden | ||
'There is a corpse is lying in the garden.' |
b. | Ik | vond | gisteren | een lijk | in mijn tuin. | |
I | found | yesterday | a corpse | in my garden | ||
'Yesterday, I found a corpse in my garden.' |
The examples in (19) introduce a new entity into domain D, which is therefore not known to the addressee by definition. However, indefinite noun phrases can also be used if the referent could in principle be uniquely identified by the hearer, but the speaker does not want to be too specific, for instance, because that would not be relevant in the given context. An example such as this is given in (20): this example is felicitous even if the speaker could have been more specific by referring to the book in question as Jackendoffʼs Semantic Structures; see Section 5.1.1.3 for more discussion.
Ik | heb | een boek | uit | je kast | gehaald. | ||
I | have | a book | out of | your bookcase | taken | ||
'Iʼve taken a book from your shelves.' |
The discussion above amounts to saying that, unlike the case with definite noun phrases, the use of an indefinite noun phrase in presentative clauses does not imply that set A in Figure 1 only contains entities that are part of domain D. It rather contains all entities that satisfy the description of the NP, and the referent of the noun phrase therefore need not be identifiable for the speaker and the hearer. In this sense indefinite noun phrases are typically non-D-linked. The same thing holds for indefinite noun phrases headed by a non-count noun like in Er staat wijn in de keuken'There is wine in the kitchen'; see the discussion below example (7) in Section 5.1.1.1.
Subsections I and II have shown that the use of a definite noun phrase indicates that the referent in question is part of domain D, whereas indefinite noun phrases may introduce new referents into domain D. There are, however, certain special restrictions on the use of indefinite noun phrases, which is due to the fact that entities can sometimes also be introduced into domain D by using a definite noun phrase. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we will briefly discuss in the following subsections some typical situations in which this is possible.
Picture the following situation. John is walking, and he meets someone he has never seen before. Given that domain D is largely determined by agreement among the participants in the discourse, one would assume that the conversation between John and the other person starts with a tabula rasa. However, the fact that John could not utter example (21a) without sounding silly shows that certain entities cannot be introduced into discourse by means of an indefinite noun phrase: (21a) suggests that there is more than one sun that could be relevant in this context, and this conflicts with the knowledge that we normally ascribe to people. Therefore the use of a definite noun phrase is preferred. This shows that the use of definite noun phrases does not entirely depend on domain D, but may also reflect intuitions of the speaker about the extra-linguistic knowledge one can ascribe to all individuals (in his society). Or, to say it differently, some entities like the sun, moon, etc. can be evoked in any conversation without being explicitly part of domain D; simply mentioning the sun is sufficient for any speaker to identify the entity the noun phrase is referring to.
a. | Er | komt | een zon | op. | |
there | rises | a sun | prt. | ||
'A sun is rising.' |
b. | De zon | komt | op. | |
the sun | rises | prt. |
Anyone hearing the sentence in (22) will conclude that the noun phrase de kleertjes'the clothes' refers to the clothes of the baby. This is due to the fact that the verb aankleden'to dress' can be paraphrased as “putting clothes on someone”. The fact that the clothes of the baby are semantically implied by the description of the event in the first conjunct apparently makes it unnecessary to introduce the clothes of the baby by means of an indefinite noun phrase.
Jan wou | de baby | aankleden, | maar | de kleertjes | waren | nog | nat. | ||
Jan wanted | the baby | prt.-dress | but | the clothes | were | still | wet | ||
'Jan wanted to dress the baby, but the clothes were still wet.' |
Appealing to the meaning of the verb aankleden does not account for the fact that the noun phrase de kleertjes in (22) can be replaced by the noun phrase de luiers'the diapers', as in (23). After all, the verb aankleden'to dress' cannot be paraphrased as “putting diapers on someone”.
Jan wou | de baby | aankleden, | maar | de luiers | waren | nog | nat. | ||
Jan wanted | the baby | prt.-dress | but | the diapers | were | still | wet | ||
'Jan wanted to dress the baby, but the diapers were still wet.' |
The fact that the definite article is acceptable in the second conjunct shows that language users have richly structured schemata of certain events at their disposal. A language user knows that babies generally wear diapers and, as a result, the event of dressing a baby typically evokes the idea of diapers, which therefore need not be introduced by an indefinite noun phrase. These structured schemata are available not only for events but also for entities. Speakers know that a wedding involves a bride and a bridegroom, best man, a priest or a civil servant, etc. Therefore these entities need not be introduced by an indefinite noun phrase, but can be referred to directly by means of a definite noun phrase, as in (24a). Similarly, for many people the mere mention of a house is sufficient to evoke a picture of a building with a garden, a front door, a chimney, etc., and as is shown in (24b) these entities can be immediately referred to by means of a definite noun phrase.
a. | Ik was daarnet bij een huwelijk. | De bruid was gekleed | in een lange witte jurk. | |
I was just now at a wedding | the bride was dressed | in a long white dress |
b. | Ik | heb | een huis in Tilburg gekocht. | De tuin is heel groot. | |
I | have | a house in Tilburg bought | the garden is very big | ||
'I bought a house in Tilburg. The garden is very big.' |
The acceptability of examples like (23) and (24) is, of course, due to the fact that parts of the speakerʼs and listenerʼs conceptions of reality are culturally determined, and therefore have sufficient overlap to invoke the desired inferences in these examples.
Occasionally, however, inferences are not socially determined. The use of a definite noun phrase must then be seen as an invitation to the listener to establish some relation between the referent of the definite noun phrase and some known entity in domain D. Consider an example such as (25a). Although it is not typically assumed that houses have dogs, the listener is invited to connect the referent of the noun phrase de hond to the earlier mentioned house (or, alternatively, to Jan). The most plausible interpretation is that the dog lives in the house (or that Jan has a dog with him). Replacing the definite noun phrase de hond by an indefinite one, as in (25b), would not force the listener to adopt such an interpretation; in that case, the referent of een hond'a dog' may equally well be totally unrelated to the referents in domain D.
a. | Jan liep | langs het huis. | De hond | blafte. | |
Jan walked | along the house | the dog | barked |
b. | Jan liep | langs het huis. | Een hond | blafte. | |
Jan walked | along the house | a dog | barked |
This brief discussion of the use of definite and indefinite noun phrases shows that a simple description in syntactic and/or semantic terms is not possible. It is not the case that entities are always introduced in domain D by employing indefinite noun phrases. They can also be evoked by the lexical meaning of words or be made available by common knowledge, including generally available structured schemata of events and entities. The most we can say is that the use of a definite noun phrase indicates that the speaker assumes that the listener is able to assign the intended referent a proper place in domain D by connecting it to some referent that is part of this domain. A full description of the distribution of indefinite and definite noun phrases must therefore appeal to notions from linguistics, semantics, pragmatics and cognition. Since this will clearly take us too far afield here, we refer the reader to Keizer (1992b: chapter 5) and Alexiadou et al. (2007: part II), which provide good overviews of the contributions these fields have made.
- 2007Noun phrases in the generative perspectiveBerlin/New YorkMouton de Gruyter
- 1992Predicates as referring expressionsFortescue, Michael, Harder, Peter & Kristoffersen, Lars (eds.)Layered structure and reference in a functional perspectiveDordrechtForis Publications