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This article demonstrates that abessive PPs impose the same type of definiteness restriction on their complements that existential predicates impose on their subjects. The definiteness effect (DE) in PPs is accounted for in the framework of the DE theory of Szabolcsi (1986a,b, 1992), who derives the DE from the incompatibility of a presuppositional subject and a logical predicate of existence that is present in a wide class of predicates (including verbs meaning ‘(cause to) come to exist in a particular fashion’ and nominal predicates meaning ‘(non)-existence at a particular location’). The analysis points out this predicate of existence in the small clause complements of abessive Ps.

This paper presents a description and analysis of both the morphophonological processes in which the definiteness marker /l/ of Cypriot Arabic is involved, and the rules that are proposed to describe these processes. More specifically, we offer a thorough account of the allomorphs of this marker and of its phonological behaviour regarding the preceding or the following word. The analysis was primarily based on naturalistic data obtained from interviews with native speakers.

We present a parallel corpus study that compares the distribution of German contracted/uncontracted articles and Mandarin bare nouns/demonstratives. Work by Schwarz (2009) and Jenks (2018) leads us to predict that German contracted articles pattern with Mandarin bare nouns and German uncontracted articles with Mandarin demonstratives. We show that these predictions are only partly borne out and argue for a more fine-grained typology of definiteness.

In this paper, we analyze relative clauses considering a categorical continuum between non-restriction and restriction. We aim to correlate formal and semantic-pragmatic properties of the head nouns to the type of relative clause related to them and to propose the distribution of the clauses analyzed in a gradient way. It is a qualitative and quantitative research and it has descriptive and explanatory objectives. The theoretical support is the North- American Functional Linguistics (GIVON, 1995; MARTELOTTA, 2011; FURTADO DA CUNHA; BISPO, 2013). The results show that restrictive clauses occur in greater quantity with new and less defined head nouns, while non-restrictive clauses, more frequently, are linked to available head nouns with a greater degree of definiteness. Evoked and inferable head nouns appear with both types of relative clauses, as well as those with an intermediate degree of definiteness. These findings reveal that these two groups of relative clauses do not represent discrete categories, but encompass a set of clauses that are distributed on a categorical scale at the ends of which are the typical non-restrictive clauses, with a lower degree of integration to the matrix clause and related to it by hypotaxis, and the prototypical restrictive ones, with greater morphosyntactic adherence to the matrix clause and articulated to it by embedding/ subordination.

The M-positive definiteness for fourth-order partially symmetric tensors plays important roles in the theory of nonlinear elasticity. Some sufficient conditions of the M-positive definiteness for fourth-order partially symmetric tensors are given based on two new M-eigenvalue inclusion sets for fourth-order partially symmetric tensors. These M-eigenvalue inclusion sets also provide upper bounds for the M-spectral radius of fourth-order partially symmetric tensors.

Both proper names and common nouns, when used as terms of address in Romanesco, can be preceded by the particlea(a Nando!‘Hey, Fernando!’) and undergo truncation of the poststress material ((a) dottó’!‘Hey, doc!’). The article presents a panchronic study of this construction in Romanesco, showing how and when truncation and the vocative particleafirst arose and providing a synchronic analysis of the conditions under which they occur today. Vocative truncation is widespread in Central-Southern Italo-Romance, where it obeys conditions that vary subtly across time and space and that the article will touch upon based on the studies available to date. These conditions will be described in detail for Romanesco, showing that they are hierarchically organized and involve all levels of linguistic analysis: the list includes (a) a part-of-speech condition, (b) a condition referring to the syntactic constituent, (c) a semantic/pragmatic condition, (d) one of prosodic minimality, and finally (e) one of lexical semantics, relative to the animacy/definiteness hierarchy. Also the occurrence of theaparticle is subject to conditions which are syntactic-textual, pragmatic and phonological in nature and which identify preferences rather than clear-cut (un)grammaticality, contrary to those that constrain truncation.

The positive definiteness of elasticity tensors plays an important role in the elasticity theory. In this paper, we consider the bi-block symmetric tensors, which contain elasticity tensors as a subclass. First, we define the bi-block M-eigenvalue of a bi-block symmetric tensor, and show that a bi-block symmetric tensor is bi-block positive (semi)definite if and only if its smallest bi-block M-eigenvalue is (nonnegative) positive. Then, we discuss the distribution of bi-block M-eigenvalues, by which we get a sufficient condition for judging bi-block positive (semi)definiteness of the bi-block symmetric tensor involved. Particularly, we show that several classes of bi-block symmetric tensors are bi-block positive definite or bi-block positive semidefinite, including bi-block (strictly) diagonally dominant symmetric tensors and bi-block symmetric (B)B0-tensors. These give easily checkable sufficient conditions for judging bi-block positive (semi)definiteness of a bi-block symmetric tensor. As a byproduct, we also obtain two easily checkable sufficient conditions for the strong ellipticity of elasticity tensors.

In the present paper we introduce a new intuitionistic fuzzy norm over intuitionistic fuzzy pairs and study some of its properties.

The authors identify a plural marker -ɕiɛ in Chengdu Chinese that can apply to both count and mass nouns, encoding plurality as well as definiteness. This post-nominal -ɕiɛ differs from the pre-nominal ɕiɛ, as the latter is purely plural but not inherently definite. Our analysis shows that the pre-nominal ɕiɛ functions as a quantifier, which occupies the [Spec, NumP] position, whereas the suffixal -ɕiɛ, by virtue of being a plural marker, is base-generated in the Num0 position and move to D0 to encode both plurality and definiteness. Moreover, the two ɕiɛs can co-occur in one and the same nominal phrase, exhibiting the double definiteness effect. The syntactic analysis of ɕiɛ in Chengdu Chinese, coupled with the study of di in Cantonese, has theoretical impacts on nominal phrase structures, in particular, on “plurality” and “definiteness”. First, plural markers in classifier languages contrast with those in number languages, as the former, but not the latter, defies numerical modification. Second, definiteness can be expressed by a non-D element, which may check its [+def] feature either by undergoing an upward movement to D (or [Spec, DP]) or by agreeing with the [+def] feature of a demonstrative. Third, the DP-NP distinction is strongly supported by our account of Chengdu Chinese.

This research paper is devoted to studying of the definiteness and indefiniteness phenomenon in three genetically and structurally unrelated languages, namely: Russian, English and Arabic. No doubt, definiteness and indefiniteness have been studied by different grammarians in different languages. It is well-known that a noun phrase may contain an element to show definiteness and indefiniteness. This element is represented differently according to the language used. It can be lexical such as “the” or “a, an” in English, while in Arabic, a prefix “al” which expresses definiteness and a prefix (-n) expresses indefiniteness. This study aims at: (1) translating the definiteness and indefiniteness phenomenon from Russian into English and Arabic to find out the areas of similarity and difference between the languages in question, (2) attempting to arriving at solutions for the problems of translating the articles in question from Russian into the languages under discussion in case of existing differences. The present study hypothesizes that definiteness and indefiniteness in Russian, English and Arabic languages are language-universal, but in very few cases, are language-specific, definite and indefinite articles exist in Russian and English languages, whereas definite article exists, but the indefinite article is represented by (nunation) "التنوين" in Arabic

Adjectives in definite Determiner Phrases of Zarma, a Nilo-Saharan language trigger an additional (suffixed/base-merged) lexical determiner; in the event of adjectives modifying nouns, definite determiners can occur with either the nouns or the adjectives or both. In all of these cases, no different readings obtain. Structured interviews were conducted with Zarma native speakers to collect the data for this study. I analyse the phenomenon as a case of definite determiner doubling which does not bear on any form of agreement relations. I further suggest that definite determiner and its subsets – numeral, demonstrative, and quantifier do not overlap. However, each of these can occur alongside adjectives within the DP. Consequently, I consider the adjective as an exponent of the adjunct category. Based on Abney’s DP-Hypothesis and the restrictive theory of the Minimalist Program, the paper argues that the asymmetry in the surface realizations of elements/constituents within the Zarma DP is the effect of movement.

Based on the matrix unfolding technique of a tensor, three easily checkable sufficient conditions for the M-positive definiteness of fourth-order partially symmetric tensors are given. Numerical examples show that the proposed results are efficient.

This paper discusses three typological differences between the North Germanic DP and the West Germanic DP. While North Germanic has suffixal definite articles leading to cases of double definiteness, weak adjective endings regulated by definiteness, and doubly-filled definite DPs, West Germanic does not. These three properties cluster together in that they all have to do with definiteness. It is claimed that they can be subsumed under one more general difference. Assuming various subcomponents of definiteness, it is proposed that these components originate low in the structure. North Germanic arranges these components into several individual feature bundles. Some of these bundles move to D, while others remain lower in the structure. Consequently, definiteness components are spelled out separately in different positions. In contrast, West Germanic involves one complex feature bundle containing all definiteness components. In this language family, all of the components move to D as one bundle and, as a consequence, they are all spelled out as one determiner.

The reasons for the functioning of the quantifier “every” in the pivot noun phrases in English there-sentences are studied. The relevance of the study is seen in the incompleteness of the solution to the definiteness effect and its exceptions. The novelty of the study is due to the appeal to previously unexplored behavior of universal quantifiers in the desired construction. The sample included 626 examples of the breaking of the definiteness effect extracted from the British national corpus and the corpus of contemporary American English. It is stated that the quantifier “every” has specific conditions in this construction, subject to the principle of exhaustion of a set common to universal quantifiers. It is proposed to consider the emphatic meaning of the full involvement of the object, expressed as a noun in the main noun group, to be a characteristic feature. There are restrictions on the types of nouns that can occupy this position. The connection between the type of noun in the noun phrase and the connotation of the exhaustion of the set meaning is shown: the complete exhaustion of the species within the set, the complete involvement of the object as an indivisible unit, the complete exhaustion of the set consisting of separate countable elements. The role of actual and hyperbolized set boundaries is indicated. The conclusion about the normative nature of the certainty effect is drawn; cases of its breaking are considered as a variant of emphase.

This study aims to investigate to what extent grammatical variables are related to each other in order to predict the discourse-based classification of English relative clause extraposition (RCE) construction with the help of a total 597 corpus data. In doing so, an extraposed relative pronoun is assumed to function as a cohesive device, thereby classifying RCE construction into four types according to discourse manner: Discourse-Old-Old-RCE, Discourse-Old-New-RCE, Discourse-New-Old-RCE, and Discourse-New-New-RCE. This discourse-based classification tells us which information is prevalent within an extraposed relative clause as well as a subject NP. Multinomial logistic regression is used for determining which one among the indefiniteness/definiteness of a subject NP, the predicate type (i.e., passive, presentative intransitive, and predicative complement of copula be), and/or grammatical weight (i.e., subject NP-to-extraposed RC length ratio) primarily has the inclination for each type of RCE construction. The definiteness of a subject NP, passive voice, and positive value of the length ratio are critical predictors to bring about Discourse-Old-Old-RCE and Discourse-Old-New-RCE, whereas the indefiniteness of a subject NP is a main predictor of Discourse-New-Old-RCE and Discourse-New-New- RCE. Interestingly, only Discourse-New-Old-RCE taking up the largest portion in this corpus study has a negative correlation with the length ratio. In other words, both a small number of constituents within a subject NP and heavy information within an extraposed relative clause are strongly associated with the occurrence of Discourse-New-Old-RCE. Therefore, the conclusive statement is drawn that the grammatical heaviness within a restrictive relative clause becomes a powerful trigger for the extraposition. (Chodang University)

This paper focuses on complex DPs which contain a PP modifier. The matrix D shows agreement with the embedded D with respect to specificity in such DPs. However, this happens only in some instances but not always. The paper proposes that not all nominals encode specificity in the grammar and that the instances in which agreement obtains are those in which both the matrix and the embedded D encode specificity as a morpho-syntactic feature. The agreement relation within modified DPs in such cases is thus a consequence of syntactic Agree. With all the other instances the specificity of the DP is decided at a semantic/pragmatic level, and depends on contextual factors, as well as on the epistemic state of the speaker. The two DPs are independent from each other with respect to how their specificity is computed and no agreement relation is expected to hold between the two.

A Gersgorin-type E-eigenvalue localization set and two Brauer-type E-eigenvalue localization sets for fourth-order tensors are presented. As applications, some sufficient conditions for the positive (semi-)definiteness of fourth-order real symmetric tensors and some upper bounds for the Z-spectral radius of fourth-order weakly symmetric nonnegative tensors are obtained. Finally, numerical examples are given to verify the theoretical results.

This paper concerns the superlative forms of the wordsmany,much,few, andlittle, and their equivalents in German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dalecarlian, Icelandic, and Faroese. It demon-strates that every possible relationship between definiteness marking and interpretation is attested. It also demonstrates that different kinds of agreement mismatches are found under relative and proportional readings. One consistent pattern is that under a relative interpretation, quantity superlatives with adverbial morphology show neuter singular agreement even if the target noun is plural. In contrast, under a proportional interpretation, quantity superlatives always agree in number. This evidence is taken to show that quantity superlatives are not structurally analogous to quality superlatives such astalleston either a relative or a proportional reading; however, depending on their interpretation, quantity superlatives depart from a plain attributive structure in different ways. On relative readings, they can have a structure akin to that of pseudo-partitives (as intwo liters of milk), while on proportional readings, they tend to have a quantificational structure, sometimes involving a true partitive (as insome of the children). Furthermore, I suggest that the agreement features of a quantity superlative depend on the domain from which the target is drawn (the Target-Domain Hypothesis).

Verifying the positive semi-definiteness of a symmetric space tensor is an important and challenging topic in tensor computation. In this paper, we develop two methods to address the problem based on the theory of nonnegative polynomials which enables us to establish semi-definite programs to examine the positive semi-definiteness of a given symmetric space tensor. Moreover, using the similar idea, we can show that the minimal H -eigenvalue of a symmetric space tensor must be the optimal value of a semi-definite program. Computational results and discussions are provided to illustrate the significance of the results and the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

This chapter describes various ways in which numeral classifiers interact with semantic number and number marking across languages. According to the Sanches–Greenberg–Slobin generalizations, languages in which the use of numeral classifiers is obligatory do not have obligatory number marking on nouns, and in the presence of numeral classifiers, nouns are normally not marked for number. An empirical and theoretical discussion of these generalizations is followed by a description of data from the Austronesian language Mokilese, an obligatory numeral classifier language with obligatory number marking on definite and indefinite markers. Finally, the chapter turns to number marking on classifiers (i.e. the form of the numeral classifier used with the numeral for ‘one’ differs from the form used with other numerals), as well as number marking by means of classifiers (i.e. cases where numeral classifiers play a role in the semantic number-marking strategies that a language has).

This chapter presents descriptive generalizations of plural marking in Japanese with the morpheme -tati and proposes an account for its distributional and interpretive properties that are puzzling in many ways. The semantic peculiarities of -tati plurals, such as their tendency to be definite and the lack of generic and kind interpretations, result from the use of -tati as an associative plural marker. When -tati attaches to an individual-denoting expression, it denotes a plurality that consists of the referent of the expression and entities associated with. It is argued that -tati maintains this associative meaning even when it combines with a common noun. The extended notion of associativity allows X-tati, where X is a common noun, to include non-Xs in its denotation as long as such entities are closely associated with X, yielding similative plurals. This potential heterogeneity can solve most, if not all, of the puzzles posed by -tati plurals.

During language comprehension, the brain processes not only word meanings, but also the grammatical structure—the “syntax”—that strings words into phrases and sentences. Yet the neural basis of syntax remains contentious, partly due to the elusiveness of experimental designs that vary structure independently of meaning-related variables. Here, we exploit Arabic’s grammatical properties, which enable such a design. We collected magnetoencephalography (MEG) data while participants read the same noun-adjective expressions with zero, one, or two contiguously-written definite articles (e.g., ‘chair purple’; ‘the-chair purple’; ‘the-chair the-purple’), representing equivalent concepts, but with different levels of syntactic complexity (respectively, indefinite phrases: ‘a purple chair’; sentences: ‘The chair is purple.’; definite phrases: ‘the purple chair’). We expected regions processing syntax to respond differently to simple versus complex structures. Single-word controls (‘chair’/‘purple’) addressed definiteness-based accounts. In noun-adjective expressions, syntactic complexity only modulated activity in the left posterior temporal lobe (LPTL), ~ 300 ms after each word’s onset: indefinite phrases induced more MEG-measured positive activity. The effects disappeared in single-word tokens, ruling out non-syntactic interpretations. In contrast, left anterior temporal lobe (LATL) activation was driven by meaning. Overall, the results support models implicating the LPTL in structure building and the LATL in early stages of conceptual combination.

Comparison expresses a relation involving two or more entities which are ordered on a scale with respect to a gradable property, called the parameter of comparison. In European languages, it is typically expressed through two constructions, comparatives and superlatives. Comparative constructions generally involve two entities, and indicate whether the compared entity shows a higher, lesser, or equal degree of the parameter with respect to the other entity, which is the standard of comparison. Superlatives set out one entity against a class of entities and indicate that the compared entity shows the highest or lowest degree of the parameter. Hence, comparatives may express either inequality (superiority or inferiority) or equality, whereas superlatives necessarily express superiority or inferiority. In traditional grammar, the terms comparative and superlative are primarily used to refer to the morphology of adjectives and adverbs in languages with synthetic marking (cf. Eng. slow, slower, slowest). However, while Latin has such synthetic marking, modern Romance languages no longer possess productive comparative or superlative suffixes. All Romance languages use analytic markers consisting of dedicated adverbs (e.g., Fr. plus ‘more’, moins ‘less’, aussi ‘as, also’) and determiners (e.g., Sp./It. tanto, Ro. atât ‘so much’). Superlatives are marked with the same markers and are mainly distinguished from comparatives by their association with definiteness. Another difference between comparatives and superlatives lies in the complements they license. Comparatives license a comparative complement, which may be clausal or phrasal, and which identifies the standard of comparison. As for superlatives, they license partitive PPs denoting the comparison set, which may be further specified by other PPs, a relative clause, or an infinitive clause. The Romance languages show many similarities with respect to the morphosyntactic encoding of comparatives and superlatives, but they also display important cross-linguistic differences. These differences may be related to the status of the comparative marker, the encoding of the standard marker, ellipsis phenomena in the comparative clause, and the dependence of the superlative on the definite article.

This paper investigates the usage and frequency of what is referred to as K-suffixes in three Balochi dialects, namely Koroshi, Coastal and Sistani Balochi. It shows that K-suffixes are most likely the reflexes of earlier evaluative morphology, traditionally termed “diminutives,” and are characterized by a high degree of multi-functionality. While in Coastal and Sistani Balochi evaluative functions continue to dominate, they have been largely lost in Koroshi Balochi, and the suffix is now used to indicate definiteness. The development appears to have been spearheaded by female speakers, and its frequency is also dependent on genre and speech situation. Data is taken from an extensive corpus of spoken Balochi narratives and from a questionnaire with thirty-six speakers. The results suggest that evaluative morphology can develop into definiteness marking, with the development passing over a stage of combination with deictic markers. The paper concludes that the development of definiteness marking can proceed down a pathway that is distinct from the one normally assumed for demonstrative-based definite marking, though the endpoint may be similar. This is the first detailed documentation of this process for any Iranian language, and one of the few well-documented cases of a non-demonstrative origin of definiteness marking worldwide.

The stability of neural networks with a time-varying delay is studied in this article. First, a relaxed Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) is presented, in which the positive-definiteness requirement of the augmented quadratic term and the delay-product-type terms are set free, and two double integral states are augmented into the single integral terms at the same time. Second, a new negative-definiteness determination method is put forward for quadratic functions by utilizing Taylor's formula and the interval-decomposition approach. This method encompasses the previous negative-definiteness determination approaches and has less conservatism. Finally, the proposed LKF and the negative-definiteness determination method are applied to the stability analysis of neural networks with a time-varying delay, whose advantages are shown by two numerical examples.

This chapter studies definite determiners formerly treated as semantic expletives and challenges the view that they can be uniformly treated as such. Assuming that definiteness consists of two features, uniqueness (iota) and familiarity (Fam), and depending on the features spelled out by the determiner, it proposes that definite articles can be fully specified for definiteness spelling out both features (full definiteness), partially specified, spelling out Fam (partial definiteness), or, in the case of true expletives, not specified at all (zero definiteness). Fully definite expressions cannot be modified by other definite nominals. In contrast, partially definite expressions form predicative FamPs, which can be modified by other definite nominals. Fam can also introduce proper names and generic kind-denoting nouns. Finally, true expletives appear even in non-definite contexts. An explanatory and descriptive account is offered that provides new insights on the properties of definiteness.

A positive-definite homogeneous multivariate form plays a critical role in the medical imaging and automatic control, and the definiteness of this form can be identified by a special structure tens...

Dutch allows for variation as to whether the first position in the sentence is occupied by the subject or by some other constituent, such as the direct object. In particular situations, however, this commonly observed variation in word order is `frozen' and only the subject appears in first position. We hypothesize that this partial freezing of word order in Dutch can be explained from the dependence of the speaker's choice of word order on the hearer's interpretation of this word order. A formal model of this interaction between the speaker's perspective and the hearer's perspective is presented in terms of bidirectional Optimality Theory. Empirical predictions of this model regarding the interaction between word order and definiteness are confirmed by a quantitative corpus study.

To the memory of Professor Violetta KoseskaThis paper is devoted to an outstanding scholar. Violetta Koseska was a professor of synchronic linguistics and the author and co-author of many major theories in contrastive analysis. One only needs to mention theoretical contrastive analysis with mediating semantic language, which plays a key role in equivalent simultaneous description of multiple languages, or descriptions of semantic categories of: time (using Petri net theory) and definiteness/indefiniteness (using quantifier calculus), among other things – to realize the significance of Professor Koseska’s work. Pamięci Profesor Violetty KoseskiejTekst poświęcony wybitnej uczonej – profesor językoznawstwa synchronicznego Violetcie Koseskiej, autorce i współautorce wielu ważnych teorii z zakresu badań konfrontatywnych. Wystarczy wymienić kluczowe dla jednoczesnego równorzędnego opisu wielu języków teoretyczne badania konfrontatywne z semantycznym językiem-pośrednikiem, a także opisy kategorii semantycznych: czasu (z wykorzystaniem teorii sieci Petriego), określoności/ nieokreśloności (bazujący na rachunku kwantyfikatorów) i in., by zrozumieć i uświadomić sobie doniosłość prac zmarłej Profesor.

In this paper, Brauer-type eigenvalue inclusion sets of stochastic tensors and irreducible tensors are given, respectively. Some sufficient conditions of positive (semi-)definiteness of stochastic tensors are obtained. Furthermore, the stability of a high-order nonlinear system is analysed by positive definiteness of tensors.

Use of the semidefinite relaxation in the problem of sign-definiteness of the quadratic form under quadratic constraints enables one to establish from the duality conditions an S-procedure. However, the S-procedure giving the necessary and sufficient conditions for signdefiniteness of the relaxed problem provides only the sufficient conditions for sign-definiteness for the original problem for the case of two and more quadratic constraints. This property is called the deficiency of S-procedure. A method was proposed enabling one in some cases to establish the conditional sign-definiteness in the case where the S-procedure provides a negative result. This method give the necessary and sufficient conditions for sign-definiteness in the two-dimensional case. An example was given.

In Gothic and, more generally, early Germanic, adjectives can be declined for gender, number, case and determination. The latter category refers to a morphologically realised distinction (opposition) of indefiniteness and definiteness, traditionally presented in terms of the strong (indefinite) and weak (definite) types of inflection: cf. strong ubils‘evil’ vs. weak sa ubila‘the evil (one)’. The definite (weak) form of the adjective is conventionally said to be triggered by the definite determiner (pronoun) that precedes it. By examining the evidence of variation between determined and undetermined weak forms of adjectives in the Gothic Bible, I argue that the weak inflection performs a broader range of functions than conventionally assumed. In particular, I show that the weak form of the adjective is indefinite in the presence of a classifying or identifying feature. However, it accompanies a D-word projected from a noun (which may be null) bearing a definite feature. In other words, the weak inflection is not an autonomous carrier of definiteness and is definite only by association with the determiner. The evidence of variation between Lithuanian short (indefinite) and long (definite) forms of adjectives provides compelling support for this presentation of the Gothic facts.

This paper deals with the morphology of adjectives and illustrates the inflectional processes in Zahrani Spoken Arabic (ZSA). Adjectives in ZSA vary according to their derivation: they are derived from lexical roots and other parts of speech such as verbs, including present and past participles. Some adjectives are formed from adjectives derived from nouns that have nisbah suffixes. Another set of adjectives are formed by using root/pattern rules. Adjectives usually come after the noun in ZSA. Adjectives in postnominal position agree with the noun in gender, number and definiteness. Adjectives also occur in prenominal position in ZSA where they do not agree fully with the noun. Key words: Saudi Dialects, Zahrani Spoken Arabic, morphology, inflection, adjectives

In this paper, I discuss the basic structure of the determiner phrase in Standard Arabic. I show that this phrase houses three different categories that can project distinct functional heads beside the noun. These categories include: DP, GenP, and NumP. I argue that the noun undergoes cyclic movement to the left of GenP and NumP in order to check its unvalued features. The long-distance probe-goal relation cannot be established in this context due to intervention effects raised by the functional heads. However, the definiteness feature on the DP is valued in-situ, without resorting to movement, hence the appearance of this marker is a prefix on the noun. Thus, a new analysis of the determiner phrase in SA is proposed in terms of cyclic movement and probe-goal relation, where both operations are triggered by unvalued features on the noun. The new analysis can successfully account for the different features on the noun as well as the split of morphological markers on the noun as prefixes and suffixes. I claim that structural nominative/accusative Case on the head noun in the Arabic DP is licensed by higher functional heads, i.e. v and T. However, I argue that the genitive construction in Standard Arabic is mediated by a Poss head that has unvalued features and can license Case. The genitive Case on the complement noun is assigned by the Poss head as a reflex of establishing a probe-goal relation. The proposed position for the Poss head accounts for the inexplicable absence of the definiteness marker on the head noun, as well as the Case morphology mismatch between the head noun and the genitive complement.

International audience; Abstract This article examines the various realizations of the Italian definite article and concludes, against all previous accounts of this phenomenon, that neither the singular nor the plural realizations constitute a case of allomorphy stricto sensu . Significantly extending Larsen's (1998) analysis, the paper argues that all of the realizations of the definite article, including the problematic [i] and [ʎi], share a single underlying representation. It is proposed that the definite article is associated with a template with separate sites for definiteness and φ-features. It is further argued that [ʎ] is not a primitive entity in Italian; rather, it emerges from a very specific configuration in which /i/ and /l/ are conjoined and followed by a second realized vowel /i/. The templatic and segmental decompositions yield a morphologically unified analysis in which all of the realizations of the definite article are based on a single lexical representation followed by the application of regular phonology.; Résumé Dans cet article, nous nous concentrons sur les différentes réalisations de surface de l'article défini de l'italien et proposons, à l'encontre de toute analyse précédente, qu'aucune de ces réalisations n'est un exemple d'allomorphie au sens strict. En étendant considérablement l'analyse de Larsen (1998), nous faisons l'hypothèse que toutes les réalisations de l'article défini, y compris les formes problématiques [i] et [ʎi], partagent une forme sous-jacente unique. Nous proposons d'abord que l'article défini soit associé à un gabarit possédant deux sites séparés qui sont réservés, respectivement, à la réalisation de la définitude et aux traits φ. Ensuite, nous montrons que [ʎ] n'est pas un objet primitif de l'italien : il dérive plutôt d'une configuration spécifique dans laquelle /i/ et /l/ sont fusionnés et suivis d'une deuxième voyelle réalisée /i/. La décomposition à la fois gabaritique et segmentale favorise une analyse morphologique unifiée dans laquelle toutes les formes réalisées de l'article défini sont dérivées d'une représentation lexicale unique par l'application régulière de la phonologie.

The morphemes such as the French au or the Italien nel are designed by different terms in grammars of Romance languages, which shows that it is difficult to identify the lexical category of this type of fusional morpheme. The aim of this paper is to propose a detailed analysis of these contracted forms. I suggest that the fusion occurs during a secondary grammaticalization. This process involves, on the one hand, the definite article, i.e. a grammatical element, and, on the other hand, some prepositions which, semantically, can be functional or lexical but which function syntactically as grammatical elements. The analysis shows that case inflection of nominals has been transferred to the preposition while the other categories appear in the article which merged with prepositions. Therefore, the fusional forms can be considered as prepositions marked by the grammatical categories of gender, number and definiteness.

Different languages have different ways of indicating the definiteness and indefiniteness of nouns. In English, as in most languages, the category of definiteness and indefiniteness is not a grammatical category of nouns. It is rather a semantic category that is mainly conveyed by means of two articles: the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an. In Albanian, on the other hand, the category of definiteness and indefiniteness is a grammatical category realised mainly by case endings and the indefinite article një (a/an) which, along with the case endings, is used to indicate only the indefiniteness, as the definiteness relies exclusively on case endings. The main purpose of this paper was to indicate that, in spite of the difference in the ways they express the definiteness and indefiniteness which account for some of their functional differences, definite and indefinite nouns in English and Albanian also show some similarities. The contrastive analysis indicates that the definite nouns in English and Albanian share their main functions, namely the specific reference and the generic reference, although they do not certainly share the cataphoric reference, whereas the indefinite nouns share the descriptive, classifying, and categorising function as well as the numerical function, but they do not share the generic function.

This study focuses on the semantic status of the definite article al ‘the’ in Jordanian Arabic. It shows that the traditional viewpoint of classifying DPs as semantically definite or indefinite based solely on the presence or absence of al, respectively, is problematic. Due to the asymmetrical distribution of al-N and bare N in the dialect, it is argued that the presence of al, although often a necessary condition for marking definiteness, no longer functions as a pure marker of semantic definiteness. The definite article in Jordanian Arabic has developed other grammatical functions unrelated to its canonical use. It is optionally attached to nouns with semantically indefinite referents, it is obligatorily prefixed to nouns in indefinite environments, and it is used in other constructions irrelevant to in/definiteness. According to the life cycle of a definite article proposed by Greenberg (1978), the definite article al in Jordanian Arabic could be on the second stage, where it ceases to function as an exclusive definite marker but rather might be found in definite and indefinite environments, with few uses slightly irrelevant to in/definiteness.

Arum Kang. 2018. The scalar intensifier ku in Korean : The case of KUintensifier with anti-specific wh-indeterminates, Language and Information, 22-1, 73-89. The purpose of this paper is to present the account of the novel function of ku in Korean. I will focus on the emphatic variant of ku co-occurring with anti-specific wh-indeterminates (i.e., Free Choice Items, Negative Polarity Items, Referential Vagueness Items), which has generally received less attention than the definite one. I suggest that the meaning of ku in this case is not associated with the core property of definiteness. Instead, given the set of empirical data, my proposal is that (i) the hallmark properties of emphatic ku are suggested as a) scalarity, b) additivity, c) weak polarity, and (ii) the pragmatic contribution of the emphatic ku can be characterized in terms of scalar intensifier. The scalar intensifier ku contributes the presupposition that there is a set of alternatives of anti-specific wh-indeterminates which is base-α, and that these alternatives are ranked on a scale. Its scalar presupposition denotes the least likely values on the likelihood scale. The implication of my finding leads to the fact that Korean is a language which reveals a dichotomy in encoding distinct type of weak familiarity (i.e., the scalar intensifier ku) and strong familiarity (i.e., the definite ku).

Old French (OF) determiners (D), which are optional, show a three-way split between definite (def), indefinite(indf), and expletive(expl)D. We develop a nano-syntactic analysis of these three paradigms, according to which the nominal spine is associated with a series of functional heads that include Number, Gender, D, and Kase. We test the predictions of the formal analysis with a quantitative analysis of corpus data from two 12thcentury Anglo-Norman texts –Le voyage de saint Brendan(B) andLais de Marie de France(MdF) – which indicates that over a 60-year span, there are changes in the distribution of D. This presents itself in three ways. First, a decline in expletive D inMdFcorrelates with an increase in the use of D with masculine (m) non-count nouns (nNON-CT) Second, whileBlacks an overt indefinite plural (pl) D,MdFhas one in the form ofdes. Third, with count nouns(nCT), while feminine (f) nouns favour the absence of determiners inB, there is no gender effect inMdF. While the first two changes are predicted by the formal analysis, the third is not. More broadly, the results of our quantitative study provide a more nuanced picture of the factors that govern the distribution of D in OF: they confirm that – relative to conditioning the absence of D (D-drop) – definiteness, grammatical function, and number are stable factors, gender is not a stable factor, and word order does not play a significant role.

Clitic doubling is the phenomenon in which, in a clause, a NP or a stressed pronoun and a clitic pronoun refer to the same entity and have the same syntactic function. Previous studies on this phenomenon in Spanish observe that it takes place when the elements involved have features such as +preposition and +definiteness that make them prone to topicalization, such as with stressed pronouns (Silva-Corvalán, 1984;Melis and Flores, 2009;Vázquez Rozas and García Salido, 2012). However, we have found that in 19th and 20th Century Spanish, doubling often occurs with elements that are not typically topical, such as indefinite NPs. On the basis of a sample of the Argentinian variety from the CORDE and CREA corpora we found that doubling in ditransitive clauses has two functions: it can mark topical indirect objects, but it can also flaginverse distributionswhich have unexpected promotion of the direct object and demotion of the indirect object in the accessibility scale.

The Determiner Phrase Hypothesis proposed by Abney (1987) was thought as an important theory of Universal Grammar and has raised great interests in Chinese linguistics. Many studies (Li, 1996, 1998; Cheng y Sybesma, 1998; Liu, 2002; Wen, 2010) focus on verifying whether such a hypothesis suits for Chinese, a language without system of article, yet more evidence of cross language studies still are in need. In this paper, we analyzed the different structures of nominal phrases in Chinese that are able to express, respectively, the indefiniteness, definiteness and genericity. These analyses provided more evidence which could verify that the Determiner Phrase Hypothesis is also applicable for Chinese in which the head could be the numeral yī (one), the demonstrative zhe/na (this/that) or even the classifier depending on specific cases. To provide further proof, this paper also discussed the properties of the bare nouns of Chinese in order to find the possibility of their appearance in different syntactic positions and their different semantic references.