Bare, generic, mass, and referential Arabic DPs

This paper investigates the properties of generic, mass, quantificational, and definite reference, in relation to the overt/covert expression of determiners, and shows that Arabic bare nouns are typically indefinite, while generic and mass interpretations require the overt expression of articles. I further examine varieties of bareness, and provide motivation for a computational process of N-to-Gen movement, an Indefinite Gen Parameter, and a Bare Numeral Parameter. Finally I explore the variation in common noun derivations for proper names, and show that Arabic patterns more like Romance than Germanic in motivating N-to-D movement in proper name derivations.

Published online: 21 February 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.101.04feh