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Part of
Generative SLA in the Age of Minimalism: Features, interfaces, and beyond
Edited by Tania Leal, Elena Shimanskaya and Casilde A. Isabelli
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 67] 2022
► pp. 67–92

Definiteness and argument position in the interpretation of bare nouns

From L1 Mandarin to L2 English

| Yale University
| Yale University
| The Graduate Center, City University of New York
| The Graduate Center, City University of New York
| The Graduate Center, City University of New York

We investigate the hypothesis that nouns in article-less languages are unambiguous with respect to definiteness, an unambiguity that is evident in the interpretation of ungrammatical “bare” or article-less singular nouns in L2 English. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that bare nouns in L2 English are interpreted as definite, administering an acceptability judgment task to intermediate L2 learners of English whose native language is Mandarin. We used sentences containing bare singular nouns in different syntactic positions and discourse contexts. We found bare subjects to be most acceptable in contexts that required definites, while bare objects were acceptable across contexts. Bare nouns in L2 English are argued to be unambiguous, following a systematic pattern determined by argument position and discourse context. 

Keywords: articles, definiteness, L2 acquisition, bare nouns, subject-object asymmetries
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1A look at (in)definiteness in article-less languages
    • 1.2Diagnosing (in)definiteness in English
    • 1.3The (in)definiteness of Mandarin bare nouns
    • 1.4The role of syntactic position
  • 2.Articles in second language acquisition
    • 2.1L2 article acquisition from the perspectives of AH and UH
    • 2.2Article omission in L2 development: Systematicity vs. randomness
  • 3.The study
    • 3.1Methodology
    • 3.2Predictions
    • 3.3Analyses
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Overall acceptability of bare nouns
    • 4.2Acceptability of bare nouns by discourse context and syntactic position
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Definiteness and the singular-plural distinction
    • 5.2Definiteness and topicality
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 August 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.67.03ste
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