Definiteness and Familiarity

2019 ◽  
pp. 116-129
Author(s):  
Barbara Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Descriptive Content

In this chapter two kinds of theories of definite descriptions are reviewed: the first is Russell’s famous theory, which holds that the article the conveys unique satisfaction of the descriptive content associated with it. The second kind of theory is one which holds that the conventional import of the definite article is one of familiarity of some type. Following that, this chapter also reviews a number of serious problems for familiarity theories, arguing that those are sufficient to make such theories untenable. Finally, this chapter looks at cases where definite descriptions do convey familiarity, and attempts (not completely successfully) to explain those cases.

scholarly journals (De)accenting definite descriptions

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 231-249
Author(s):  
Carla Umbach
Keyword(s):  
Definite Description ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Descriptive Content ◽  
Discourse Referent

This paper focuses on definite descriptions. It will be shown that a definite description refers to a given discourse referent if the descriptive content is completely deaccented. But if there is a focussed element within the descriptive content it introduces a novel referent. This amounts to allowing two readings for definite descriptions without, however, allowing two readings for the definite article.  

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 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.

Frege on Singular Senses

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Marco Ruffino
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Singular Terms ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Descriptive Sense

Abstract In this article the author discusses what seems to be a puzzle for Frege’s notion of singular senses (i.e., the senses of singular terms), in particular senses of definite descriptions. These senses are supposed to be complete (or saturated), but they are composed of the incomplete (unsaturated) senses of conceptual terms (i.e., conceptual senses). The author asks how the definite article (or what it expresses) transforms an unsaturated sense into a saturated one and reviews some attempted explanations in the literature. He argues that none of them is compatible with Frege’s views in semantics. Next, he discusses an alternative that Frege himself endorses and argues that it is also incompatible with his semantics. The author concludes that Frege has no coherent view on the senses of definite descriptions. If we assume that every name expresses a descriptive sense, then we must conclude that Frege has no coherent explanation for singular senses in general.

scholarly journals The sensitivity of natural language to the distinction between class nouns and role nouns

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 438
Author(s):  
Sarah Zobel
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Descriptive Content ◽  
Count Nouns ◽  
Copular Clauses ◽  
Type Shifting

This paper argues that language makes a distinction among individual count nouns between class nouns (e.g., man) and role nouns (e.g., judge). This is reflected in the effects of class nouns vs. role nouns in three positions: (i) the complement of as in restrictive role as-phrases, (ii) the descriptive content of definite descriptions in a certain type of logical argument, and (iii) the predicative expression in German copular clauses. To capture the sensitivity to this distinction formally, I introduce a domain of roles D_r and a type-shifting operator PLAY , which connects D_r to the domain of individuals D_e . Using these tools, I propose analyses of the contrasts arising in (i)–(iii) that account for the observed sensitivity to role nouns.

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.

scholarly journals Definite descriptions and cognitive status in English: why accommodation is unnecessary

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanette K. Gundel ◽  
Nancy Hedberg ◽  
Ron Zacharski
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Givenness Hierarchy ◽  
The Common ◽  
Definite Articles

A commonly held view of English definite articles is that they signal that the referent of an NP is familiar to the addressee. However, it is well known that not all definite article phrases meet this familiarity requirement. To account for such nonfamiliar uses, Heim (1982) invokes the mechanism of ‘accommodation’, which enables an addressee to remedy a violation of the familiarity requirement by adding assumptions to the ‘common ground’. In this article we argue that the Givenness Hierarchy framework provides an insightful account of all uses of definite article phrases without requiring an appeal to accommodation. Such an account provides a unified treatment of definite article phrases, including demonstrative phrases and personal pronouns, while at the same time distinguishing among them in a principled way. This proposal is supported by results of a corpus-based examination of the use of definite articles and by an examination of cleft presuppositions.

scholarly journals Is that Different from the?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Quek Soh Theng ◽  
Mei Yuit Chan
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Positive Performance ◽  
English Articles ◽  
Teachers Training ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Lexical Transfer

English is a language with overt morphological representations of articles. On the other hand, Malay and Mandarin Chinese have none. In Malaysia, pupils are exposed to English articles as early as four years old. Despite early exposure, articles, or the definite article the specifically, appear to be a marked grammatical property for Chinese-speaking and Malay-speaking learners, two languages without articles. Based on the Fluctuation Hypothesis and Article Choice Parameter, this study seeks to investigate and compare the role of first language (L1) transfer on the article acquisition of the 77 L1 Chinese and 116 L1 Malay ESL learners, who were teacher trainees recruited from three teachers’ training institutes in Malaysia. The respondents were tested utilising a production task and a comprehension task. The statistical analyses of the participants’ performance revealed that only the advanced and intermediate groups of both L1 Chinese and L1 Malay ESL learners registered clear distinctions between the usage in the ‘Unique and salient’ and ‘Unique and non-salient’ categories and that usage in the ‘Non-unique’ category. The high accuracy rates suggest that L1 lexical transfer contributed to the positive performance by the ESL learners. The advanced and intermediate L1 Chinese and L1 Malay learners continuously interpreted the singular definite descriptions as referring to uniquely immediate salient entities similar to the demonstrative descriptions, making interpretations of the and that seemed similar.

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