1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780249903321

Autore

Lyons Christopher

Titolo

Definiteness / / Christopher Lyons [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 1999

ISBN

1-107-11155-2

0-511-00998-4

1-280-41655-6

0-511-17236-2

0-511-15088-1

0-511-31037-4

0-511-60578-1

0-511-05243-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xx, 380 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge textbooks in linguistics

Disciplina

415

Soggetti

Definiteness (Linguistics)

Grammar, Comparative and general - Syntax

Semantics

Pragmatics

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 341-358) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Preliminaries; Contents; Preface; Abbreviations; 1 Basic observations; 2 Simple definites and indefinites; 3 Complex definites and indefinites; 4 Some semantic and pragmatic distinctions; 5 Interaction with other grammatical phenomena; 6 Definiteness effects; 7 Defining definiteness; 8 Definiteness and noun phrase structure; 9 Diachronic aspects; References; Index; Languages Index

Sommario/riassunto

This 1999 textbook investigates definiteness both from a comparative and a theoretical point of view, showing how languages express definiteness and what definiteness is. It surveys a large number of languages to discover the range of variation in relation to definiteness and related grammatical phenomena, such as demonstratives, possessives and personal pronouns. It outlines work done on the nature of definiteness in semantics, pragmatics and syntax, and



develops an account on which definiteness is a grammatical category represented in syntax as a functional head (the widely discussed D). Consideration is also given to the origins and evolution of definite articles in the light of the comparative and theoretical findings. Among the claims advanced are that definiteness does not occur in all languages, though the pragmatic concept which it grammaticalizes probably does.