The role of the definite article in the rise of the German Framing Principle

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-128
Author(s):  
Elke Ronneberger-Sibold
Keyword(s):  
Definite Article

Young children use shared experience to interpret definite reference

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1146-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL SCHMERSE ◽  
ELENA LIEVEN ◽  
MICHAEL TOMASELLO
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Shared Experience ◽  
Joint Actions ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
Communicative Intention ◽  
Linguistic Categories ◽  
Referential Choice

AbstractWe investigated whether children at the ages of two and three years understand that a speaker's use of the definite article specifies a referent that is in common ground between speaker and listener. An experimenter and a child engaged in joint actions in which the experimenter chose one of three similar objects of the same category to perform an action. In subsequent interactions children were asked to get ‘the X’ or ‘a X’. When children were instructed with the definite article they chose the shared object significantly more often than when they were instructed with the indefinite article in which case children's choice was at chance. The findings show that in their third year children use shared experiences to interpret the speaker's communicative intention underlying her referential choice. The results are discussed with respect to children's representation of linguistic categories and the role of joint action for establishing common ground.

Studying variation in Romanian: deletion of the definite article -l in continuous speech

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Vasilescu ◽  
Ioana Chitoran ◽  
Bianca Vieru ◽  
Martine Adda-Decker ◽  
Maria Candea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Broadcast News ◽  
Continuous Speech ◽  
Linguistic Behavior ◽  
Speaking Style

AbstractStudies of variation in continuous speech converge towards the conclusion that in everyday speech, words are often produced with reduced variants: some segments are shortened or completely absent. We describe an initiative to automatically exploit spoken corpora, in order to better understand linguistic behavior in spontaneous speech. This study focuses on the reduction of the postposed definite article in Romanian. The Romanian corpora used here cover several speaking styles including both prepared and spontaneous speech, such as broadcast news and debates, elicited dialogues and monologues on suggested topics. Taken together, the data sets contain more than 10 hours of speech produced in a variety of communicative frameworks. The deletion of the definite article -l, i.e. L-dropping in continuous speech, is investigated across speaking styles using pronunciation variants aligned with the speech. The main question addressed in the study is the influence of speaking style on the distribution of L-dropping. We examine the role of the surrounding context in L-dropping and L-retention. The results show that, in prepared speech and broadcast news, deletion is triggered by the context as a consequence of the communicative framework and the nature of the following segment (following vowel-initial words favor L-retention, while consonant-initial words favor L-dropping). In spontaneous speech, L-dropping is more frequent and the context is less important in predicting the occurrence of reduced variants than in other speaking styles.

scholarly journals The Role of the Article in the Semantic Interpretation of the Antecedent in Attributive Clauses

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2 (11)) ◽  
pp. 68-73
Author(s):  
Nune Hayrapetyan
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Proper Nouns

The role of the article in all grammar structures leaves no doubt. Attributive clauses prove no exception. Here, the article used with the antecedent contributes to the distinction of the attributive clause. Attributive clauses can be divisible and non-divisible. The antecedent of the latter is closely connected to the thematic continuation which acts as its characterization and does not need any restriction in the use of the article, i.e. both definite and indefinite article may be used here. Unlike non-divisible sentences, the antecedent in divisible attributive clauses is not strongly bound with its subordinate continuation since the latter contains additional information only. The semantic emphasis of the antecedent requires the use of only the definite article which can be used in zero category as an antecedent used in the presence of proper nouns.

Quelques particularités dans l’expression de la détermination du nom. Comparaison entre cinq langues romanes

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Gorana Bikić-Carić
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Change Of Perspective ◽  
The One ◽  
Time Description

"Some Features in the Expression of the Noun Determination. Comparison Between Five Romance Languages. In this article we would like to compare the noun determination in five Romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian). All the languages examined here share the main uses of articles: known referent, generic use, unique entities, abstract names, inalienable possession for the definite article, or introduction of a new element into the discourse and description for the indefinite article. However, we wanted to show some peculiarities. We used the same text in five languages, (La sombra del viento, Carlos Ruiz Zafón) which is part of the RomCro corpus, composed in the Chair of Romance Linguistics of the Department of Romance Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zagreb, Croatia. The results of the analysis showed a clear difference between French and the other languages. As expected, French uses the indefinite article in plural much more often, as well as the partitive article, which does not exist in Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. Likewise, the possessive adjective is more common in French than in other languages which use the definite article instead. But what is particularly interesting are the differences which indicate a ""change of perspective"", namely a different kind of article than in the original text. Our conclusion is that the noun can have several characteristics at the same time (description or determination by complement, generic use or absence of specific referent etc.) of which the author (or the translator) chooses the one to highlight. Likewise, we have underlined the role of article zero, which can carry different values (unspecified referent, but also unspecified quantity or even definite article value if the noun is introduced by a preposition), depending on its relationship to other articles in the language.

scholarly journals Definite Descriptions, Presuppositions and Reference

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Marco Ruffino
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article

In this article I review some fundamental aspects of the singularist view of definite descriptions taking as paradigm the Frege-Strawson version of it. I consider more closely the role of the definite article and its relation with presuppositions. Finally, I raise some doubts about the coherence of such approach as an explanation for the phenomenon of reference.

L1 and L2 transfer to L3 in L3 and L2 learners of Standard Arabic

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 745-774
Author(s):  
Abdulkafi Albirini ◽  
Eman Saadah ◽  
Mohammad T. Alhawary
Keyword(s):  
Definite Article ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Sentential Negation ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Negative Role ◽  
Colloquial Arabic ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English

Abstract This study examines the influence of previously acquired languages – namely, Colloquial Arabic (CA) and English – on the acquisition of Standard Arabic (SA) by L3 and L2 learners. It reports on the role of typological and structural proximity in language transfer and whether transfer patterns change over time. The study involved 105 participants: 41 CA-L1, English-L2 learners of SA, 47 English-L1 learners of SA, and 17 Arabic-L1 speakers. The participants completed three written tasks focusing on: definite article use, verb subcategorization rules, and sentential negation. The results indicate that CA plays a positive role in L3 learners’ acquisition of SA, mainly in forms where SA and CA converge, whereas English seems to play more of a negative role for both L3 and L2 learners. Thus, structural proximity seems to play a positive role in transfer to the L3. Negative transfer, irrespective of proximity/distance, diminishes as learners advance in their study of SA.

scholarly journals Can the Messiahship of Jesus Be Read off Paul's Grammar? Nils Dahl's Criteria 50 Years Later

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-412
Author(s):  
Matthew V. Novenson
Keyword(s):  
General Term ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Proper Name

It is half a century since Nils A. Dahl wrote his important essay ‘Die Messianität Jesu bei Paulus’, in which he determines that χριστός in Paul is effectively a proper name, not a title, on the basis of four negative philological observations: it is never a general term; it is never a predicate of the verb ‘to be’; it never takes a genitive modifier; and it characteristically lacks the definite article. The purpose of this article is to reconsider what each of these observations entails about the messiahship of Jesus. My thesis is that, while all four observations are significant for understanding Paul's thought, they do not constitute proper criteria for assessing the role of the messiahship of Jesus therein.

scholarly journals Kontakt językowy w tłumaczeniu. Początkowy etap rozwoju przedimka określonego w świetle gockiego przekładu Biblii

2019 ◽  
Vol LXXV (75) ◽  
pp. 141-163
Author(s):  
Kazimierz A. Sroka
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The One

Language contact in translation: The initial stage in the development of the definite article in the light of the Gothic text of the Bible. Summary: Definiteness (weak determination) is a characteristic of grammatical constructions whose base is a name, and whose formative is an article (a weak determiner). In definiteness, we distinguish between exponents (which are formatives of the mentioned grammatical constructions), e.g. the, a(n), functives (or determinants), and formal values (viz. definite, indefinite, and bare). Functives are the factors which, at the stage of encoding, determine the occurrence of particular exponents. They are either formal (e.g. the target role of the article as an exponent of nominalization) or logico-semantic. The latter make a system whose components are the actual scope values of a countable common name, viz. α1 = unique, α2 = identifying, β = free, γ1 = universal, γ2 = existential, and δ = species-oriented. They correspond to the subsets of the scope of the name which, at the stage of encoding, are those to be conveyed in the message, and, at the stage of decoding, are recognized as actually conveyed. The types of functives mentioned are applied to the analysis of the use of the simple demonstrative sa (m.), sō (f.), þata (n.) ‘this, that’ in the Gothic translation of the Bible. It is shown that this demonstrative can be qualified as an article or article-like determiner when it appears as (a) an exponent of co-reference, i.e. when the actual scope value of the name it precedes is α2 (identifying), e.g. hundafaþs … sa hundafaþs ‘a centurion … the centurion’ (b) an exponent of nominalization, e.g. sa saiands ‘the (one) sowing’, ‘the sower’, and as (c) an element connecting the components of an appositive construction, e.g. sunus meins sa liuba ‘my son the beloved (one)’. Such types of the use of the demonstrative are treated as the initial stage in the development of the definite article in Gothic. It is probable that in a similar way, and especially as an exponent of co-reference, this article started to develop also in other languages. The influence of the Greek original upon the use of the Gothic simple demonstrative as a counterpart of the definite article ὁ, ἡ, τό is indubitable but it is not so strong as to violate the morpho-semantic rules of Gothic. Thus, in the case of the actual scope value α1 (unique) and γ1 (universal), a simple name in Gothic is preceded by the zero determiner although (but not always) in the Greek original it is accompanied by the definite article, e.g. in the case of α1: sauil ὁ ἥλιοϛ ‘the sun’, and in the case of γ1: skalks ὁ δοῦλος ‘the servant’. S t r e s z c z e n i e: Określoność słaba (ang. definiteness) przysługuje konstrukcji gramatycznej, której podstawą (bazą) jest nazwa, a formatywem ‒ określnik słaby, czyli adimek (ang. article), którego odmianą jest przedimek. Na określoność słabą składają się wykładniki (które są formatywami we wspomnianych konstrukcjach gramatycznych), np. ang. the, a(n), funktywy (czyli determinanty) i wartości formalne (mianowicie: określona, nieokreślona i zero-określnikowa). Funktywy to czynniki, które w procesie kodowania determinują występowanie poszczególnych wykładników. Dzielą się one na formalne (np. docelowa rola przedimka jako wykładnika nominalizacji) i logiczno-semantyczne. Te ostatnie stanowią system, na który składają się aktualne wartości zakresowe pospolitej nazwy policzalnej, a mianowicie: α1 = unikatowa, α2 = identyfikująca, β = wolna, γ1 = uniwersalna, γ2 = egzystencjalna i δ = rodzajowa/gatunkowa. Odpowiadają one podzbiorom zakresu nazwy, które na etapie kodowania występują jako docelowe, a na etapie dekodowania są rozpoznawane jako faktycznie obecne. Wymienione rodzaje funktywów są wykorzystane do analizy użycia demonstrativum prostego sa, sō, þata ‘ten, ta, to’, ‘tamten, tamata, tamto’ w gockim przekładzie Biblii. Ukazano, że to demonstrativum ma tu charakter przedimkowy lub przedimkopodobny, gdy występuje jako (a) wykładnik współodniesienia (koreferncji), czyli gdy aktualną wartością zakresową nazwy jest α2 (identyfikująca), np. hundafaþs … sa hundafaþs ‘setnik … (ten) setnik’ (b) wykładnik nominalizacji, np. sa saiands ‘[ten] siejący’, ‘siewca’, oraz (c) element łączący składniki konstrukcji apozycyjnej, np. sunus meins sa liuba ‘syn mój [ten] umiłowany’. Tego rodzaju użycia demonstrativum traktowane są jako początkowy etap rozwoju przedimka określonego w gockim. Jest prawdopodobne, że w podobny sposób, a szczególnie jako wykładnik współodniesienia, przedimek ten zaczął się rozwijać także w innych językach. Wpływ oryginału greckiego na użycie demonstrativum jako odpowiednika przedimka określonego ὁ, ἡ, τό jest niewątpliwy, lecz nie tak silny, aby gwałcić reguły morfosemantyczne języka gockiego, o czym świadczy fakt, że w przypadku aktualnej wartości zakresowej α1 (unikatowej) i γ1 (uniwersalnej) nazwę prostą poprzedza w gockim określnik zerowy, mimo że (choć nie zawsze) w greckim oryginale występuje przedimek określony, np. w przypadku α1: sauil ὁ ἥλιοϛ ‘słońce’, a w przypadku γ1: skalks ὁ δοῦλος ‘sługa’.

The role of the native language in the use of the English nongeneric definite article by L2 learners: A cross-linguistic comparison

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Chrabaszcz ◽  
Nan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners

The study uses an elicited imitation (EI) task to examine the effect of the native language on the use of the English nongeneric definite article by highly proficient first-language (L1) Spanish and Russian speakers and to test the hierarchy of article difficulty first proposed by Liu and Gleason (2002). Our findings suggest that there is a clear influence of L1 on participants’ reproduction of the second-language (L2) definite article in nongeneric contexts, but that various contexts present different levels of difficulty for the two L1 groups. The participants whose L1 is Spanish – a language with an article system – perform at a native-like level of accuracy in the grammatical condition of the test, whereas the participants whose L1 is Russian – a language without articles – demonstrate a tendency to omit definite articles in the same contexts. In the ungrammatical condition, Spanish speakers differ from the native speaker control group in their suppliance of the definite article in conventional and cultural contexts, while Russian participants supply the definite article significantly less than both the Spanish participants and the control group along all article categories. The study offers novel insights into what constitutes article difficulty for L2 learners from different L1s.

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