There is increasing evidence that languages may
use distinct forms to encode definiteness in instances of anaphoric
and non-anaphoric definiteness, for example, distinct determiners,
or bare classifier vs. bare noun patterns. This chapter considers a
recent, prominent claim in Jenks
(2018) that such distinctions are systematically encoded
in Mandarin Chinese via the presence vs. absence of demonstratives
with a noun, and regulated by a principle Index!,
which requires the use of overt marking of referential indices. The
chapter argues that there is greater optionality in the forms used
to represent definite NPs in Mandarin than assumed in Jenks’
characterization, and that alternations between definite bare nouns
and demonstrative-marked nouns are affected by issues of discourse
coherence and parsing expectations.
Article outline
1.Introduction
2.Two ways to encode definiteness
2.1Jenks (2018) and
Mandarin Chinese
3.Probing the potential use of bare nouns as anaphoric definites in
Mandarin
3.1NPs introduced by ba 把
3.2NPs introduced by ti 替
3.3NPs introduced by gen 跟
3.4NPs introduced by zai 在
3.5Revisiting direct and indirect objects
3.6Conclusions, consequences and extensions
3.7Discourse constraints on the bare noun pattern in anaphoric
definiteness
4.The representation of anaphoric definites in Korean, Hindi, and
Cantonese
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Kim, Min-Joo
2023. Anaphoric definiteness marking in Korean: focusing on subject definites. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 32:3 ► pp. 373 ff.
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