Specific Indefinites and the Information Structure Theory of Topics  

Oleh:

Portner, Paul ; Yabushita, Katsuhiko

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Journal of Semantics (Sebagian Full Text) (0), page 271-297.
Topik: Presuppositional Indefinite; Specific Indefinites
Fulltext: vol 18, no 3, p 271-297.pdf (137.12KB)

Isi artikel

Concentrating on data from Japanese, this paper examines the relationship between topicality and the specificity of indefinites. We argue that in many instances specificity arises when the domain of quantification for an indefinite is both topical and extremely narrow. We also discuss instances where the domain of quantification varies with some other operator, analyzing these in terms of a topical domain function, that is a function given in the context which provides the indefinite with a domain of quantification relative to implicit arguments. Our view builds on two popular ideas about specific indefinites: that they are a kind of presuppositional indefinite and that they are referential elements analyzed via choice functions. We formalize our ideas in terms of the analysis of topicality put forth in Portner & Yabushita (1998).

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali