scholarly journals English article usage as a window on the meanings ofsame,identicalandsimilar

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUNA FILIPOVIĆ ◽  
JOHN A. HAWKINS
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Fundamental Difference ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Partial Property ◽  
Article Usage ◽  
Pragmatic Equivalence

We propose an explanation for a traditional puzzle in English linguistics involving the use of articles with the nominal modifierssame,identicalandsimilar.Samecan only take the definite articlethe, whereasidenticalandsimilartake eithertheora. We argue that there is a fundamental difference in the manner in which a comparison is made with these modifiers.Identicalandsimilarinvolve direct comparisons between at least two entities and an assertion of either full property matching (identical), or partial property matching (similar). The comparison withsameproceeds differently: what is compared is not linguistic entities directly, but definite descriptions of these entities that can be derived through logical entailments.John and Mary live in the same houseentailsthe house that John lives in is the (same) house that Mary lives in. There must be a pragmatic equivalence between these entailed definite descriptions, ranging from full referential equivalence to a possibly quite minimal overlap in semantic and real-world properties shared by distinct referents. These differences in meaning and article co-occurrence reveal the sensitivity of syntax to semantic and pragmatic properties, without which all and only the grammatical sentences of a language cannot be predicted.

Asymmetries between uniqueness and familiarity in the semantics of definite descriptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 694
Author(s):  
Sadhwi Srinivas ◽  
Kyle Rawlins ◽  
Daphna Heller
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Future Work

In over a century of research into the English definite article "the", two main theoretical factors have been identified as relevant to its meaning: namely, (i) uniqueness and (ii) familiarity. The identification of these factors has led to an extensive debate in semantics about which of them is more fundamental to the meaning of "the". In this paper, we contribute to this debate by introducing novel data obtained through two controlled psycholinguistic experiments. We manipulated uniqueness and familiarity of potential referents, examining how these factors affect the comprehension and production of English definite descriptions. The behavioral results reveal an asymmetry between these two factors, with familiarity being a weaker cue than uniqueness – a pattern that is unexpected under any existing theory of definiteness. We close with a discussion of possible extensions to existing theories in light of this result, as well as avenues for future work.

scholarly journals Definiteness

Linguistics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus von Heusinger
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Computational Linguistics ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Definite Expressions

Definiteness is a semantic-pragmatic notion that is closely associated with the use of the definite article (or determiner) in languages like English, Hungarian, Hebrew, and Lakhota. The definite article can be used in different conditions: deictic, anaphoric, unique, and certain indirect uses, often also called “bridging uses.” Accordingly, there are different semantic theories of definiteness, such as the salience theory, the familiarity or identifiability theory, and the uniqueness or inclusiveness theory. Definite expressions cover personal pronouns, proper names, demonstratives, definite noun phrases, and universally quantified expressions. Noun phrases with the definite article, known as “definite descriptions,” are a key issue in semantics and analytic philosophy with respect to the interaction of reference and description in identifying an object. The research and analysis of definiteness is of great importance not only for the linguistic structure of languages but also for our understanding of reference and referring in philosophy, cognitive science, computational linguistics, and communication science.

scholarly journals Indonesian Students’ Comprehension Of The French Articles (Les Articles): The Case Of Manado State University French Language Education Program

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
W E Sekeh
Keyword(s):  
Education Program ◽  
Language Education ◽  
French Language ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
State University ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
School Year ◽  
Article Type ◽  
Article Usage

 In French language, articles play an important role and one of the basic French skills is mastery of article usage. The objective of this study is to describe students’  performance and mastery of French articles. The research used descriptive research method. Data of the study were obtained by giving written tests of French language articles to French Language Education Program students enrolled in the 2018/2019 school year. The research instrument consisted of questions in the form of loose questions and questions in the form of text / short discourse. Data analysis used descriptive statistics analysis. Study result shows that students’ mastery of French article is quite low (Mean=48.28). However, there is difference in performance of each article type. Mastery of definite article is the highest (Mean=60.78)Keywords: definite article; indefinite article; partitive article; performance; mastery

The Difference Between Instability and Uncertainty: Comment on Young and Holsteen (2017)

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Slez
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Model Uncertainty ◽  
Model Averaging ◽  
Fundamental Difference ◽  
Statistical Uncertainty ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Numerical Variation ◽  
The Way

Young and Holsteen (YH) introduce a number of tools for evaluating model uncertainty. In so doing, they are careful to differentiate their method from existing forms of model averaging. The fundamental difference lies in the way in which the underlying estimates are weighted. Whereas standard approaches to model averaging assign higher weight to better fitting models, the YH method weights all models equally. As I show, this is a nontrivial distinction, in that the two sets of procedures tend to produce radically different results. Drawing on both simulation and real-world examples, I demonstrate that in failing to distinguish between numerical variation and statistical uncertainty, the procedure proposed by YH will tend to overstate the amount of uncertainty resulting from variation across models. In standard circumstances, the quality of estimates produced using this method will tend to be objectively worse than that of conventional alternatives.

Definite article usage before Last/Next Time in spoken and written American English

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaiah WonHo Yoo
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Grad School ◽  
Article Usage

Unlike any other noun in English, time can combine with either Ø last/next or the last/next and maintain the same reference, e.g. (The) last time I saw her, she was still in grad school. Nontemporal nouns cannot combine with Ø last/next, while the references of temporal nouns change with the use of the before last/next, e.g. In 2001, he said he’d come back Ø next year (= in 2008) vs. In 2001, he said he’d come back the next year (= in 2002). Based on the analyses of tokens retrieved from both spoken and written corpora, this paper describes when and how often the combines with last/next time in American English. Defining temporal nouns as nouns that refer to specific periods or points of time, this paper also argues that, contrary to what other scholars have suggested (e.g. Larson 1985), time is not a temporal but quasi-temporal noun.

scholarly journals Predicting Definite Article Usages in New Englishes: Variety Outweighs Genre and Syntactic Function in Nigerian English

2017 ◽  
pp. 101-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayowa Akinlotan
Keyword(s):  
Definite Article ◽  
Syntactic Function ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Article Usage

Variability in the use of the definite article in New Englishes, and in particular, Nigerian English has received the least attention from a quantitative, probabilistic and predictive perspective. The present study narrows this gap by not only assessing the extent to which article use in Nigerian English varies, but by also simultaneously testing out previous claims found in similar varieties, using similar corpus data from the Nigerian component of the International Corpus of English (ICE). Following theoretic framework for article use by Hawkins (1978) and Prince (1981), Wahid (2013) found that variability in definite article usage in New Englishes is more predictable on the basis of genre than on the basis of variety. Revising Wahid’s method and reconceptualising same theoretic frameworks of Hawkins and Prince, together with a comparable corpus sample of 8674 definite article the from ICE-Nigeria, the extent of article usage variability in the Nigerian variety is not only shown but also that variety outweighs genre and syntactic function predicting article usage in New Englishes.

scholarly journals A STUDY OF ENGLISH ARTICLE USAGE AMONG CROATIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Anna K. Martinović ◽  
Katica M. Balenović
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
First Year ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Study Programme ◽  
Article Usage

The main focus of this study was to analyse article errors in the writing of first year Croatian psychology students studying English as a foreign language as part of their study programme. Article errors among learners with different proficiency levels were also analysed; moreover, errors made by students with different essay grades were compared. The results show that the category with the highest number of errors included the omission of the indefinite article. Furthermore, it was found that proficiency levels were not a significant factor concerning the average number of errors in any of the categories. Moreover, it was also shown that essay grades did not play a significant role in the number of article errors in student writing except in the category of omission of the definite article, which was found among students with lower essay grades.

scholarly journals Accent and description: An account of anaphoric epithets

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Charley Evan Beller
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Current Analysis ◽  
Conventional Implicature ◽  
Expressive Content ◽  
Nominal Reference

Anaphoric epithets are definite descriptions that achieve reference anaphorically. They also convey some expressive content. Potts (2003) analyzes the expressive component as a Conventional Implicature. He proposes that the expressive component is provided by the nominal, reference is provided by a phonologically null variable adjacent to the nominal, and the definite article is semantically contentless. The current analysis agrees that the nominal provides the attitudinal meaning. Rather than positing a null syntactic element reference is achieved by incorporating Elbourne's (2005) proposal that the definite determiner takes an index argument and a nominal argument.

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.

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