Definiteness, Uniqueness, and Maximality in Languages With and Without Articles

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F20%3A10420579" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/20:10420579 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=8vUyLVy4z~" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=8vUyLVy4z~</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffaa002" target="_blank" >10.1093/jos/ffaa002</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Definiteness, Uniqueness, and Maximality in Languages With and Without Articles

Original language description

We present a number of experiments testing influential hypotheses about the meaning of definite descriptions (in languages with articles, represented here by German) and bare nominals (in articleless languages, represented here by Russian). Our results are in line with the commonly entertained hypothesis that definite descriptions convey uniqueness (if singular) or maximality (if plural), but fail to support two hypotheses about bare nominal interpretation, namely that singular bare nominals convey uniqueness (Dayal 2004) and that topical bare nominals convey uniqueness/maximality (Geist 2010, among many others). Uniqueness or maximality inferences are expected to arise via covert type-shifting under these approaches. Our results are compatible with what we take to be the null hypothesis, namely that bare nominals in articleless languages are existential and free of presuppositional semantics, even if they correspond-in their use-to definite descriptions (Heim 2011).

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60203 - Linguistics

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2020

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Semantics

ISSN

0167-5133

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

37

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

56

Pages from-to

311-366

UT code for WoS article

000593103200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

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