Situational definites and inference from stereotypical situations in languages with definiteness splits

Résumé 0

Situational definites and inference from stereotypical situations in languages with definiteness splitsIt is usually assumed that general stereotypical knowledge, shared by both speaker and receiver, is the base for weak definites such as the train in I took the train (Carlson & all 2013; Beyssade 2013; Zwarts 2014). One defining feature of definite descriptions like these is that they do not denote a particular referent: the speaker might have taken several trains; and the addressee is not aware of any particular train. So-called “situational definites”, on the other hand, are assumed to denote a referent that is unique in the situation; it is proposed that they might rely on knowledge of the situation but cannot rely on stereotypical knowledge (Zwarts 2014; Lyons 1999). This talk deals with different kinds of situational definites in typologically distinct languages with definiteness splits, i.e., languages displaying different expressions encoding different types of definiteness . Such languages usually have a weak form and a strong form. The strong form is used for context-dependent types of definites (mostly anaphoric and deictic reference); the weak form has other uses, including reference to globally unique entities such as the sun or weak definites such as the train in I took the train above. Ebert (1971) showed that the split in Fering is operated between what Hawkins (1978) later called the “visible situation” use of definites (deictic reference) and all other situational uses. The latter thus pattern with weak definites rather than with deictic reference.We will show that other languages also distinguish reference retrieval based on deixis, expressed by strong forms, from reference retrieval involving inference from stereotypical situations, expressed by the weak form.(1)Out of the blue:{Doktér /#Doktér-la / #Lodoktér}ladiamwinouasiztroba.doctordoctorDEMDEFdoctorPFRsay1SG.OBJ2SGsittoolow‘The doctor told me you sit too low.’ Reunion Creole, bare noun phrase (weak form)b. {Da / #Dea} Dokta hot ma gsogt i soi mi auskurian. Austro-Bavarian , reduced article (weak form)‘The doctor told me to take care.’c. Ich habe {vom / #von dem}Arzt einen Tipp bekommen: ich soll mich nicht so niedrig hinsetzen. Central German, contracted form of article (weak form)‘I was given an advice by the doctor: I should not sit so low.’We will also suggest that these kinds of situational uses of definite NPs (partially) rely on cognitive frames , on a par with weak definites; we show that to some point, the special characteristics of weak definites also apply to situational definites: they may receive sloppy readings even when they figure in subject position; they may be uttered out of the blue they resist modification; they have obligatory semantic enrichment; and they cannot be contrasted.ReferencesBEYSSADE, Claire & PIRES DE OLIVEIRA, Roberta. 2013. Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes. Weak definites across languages: theoretical and experimental investigations 42.CARLSON, Gregory N. ; KLEIN, Nathalie ; GEGG-HARRISON, Whitney & TANENHAUS, Michael. 2013. Weak definites as a form of definiteness: Experimental investigations. Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes 42, 11–32.EBERT, Karen H. 1971. Referenz, Sprechsituation und die bestimmten Artikel in einem nordfriesischen Dialekt. Bräist/Bredstedt: Nordfriisk Instituut.HAWKINS, John A. 1978. Definiteness and indefiniteness: a study in reference and grammaticality prediction. Croom Helm, London.LÖBNER, Sebastian. 2015. Functional Concepts and Frames. In Gamerschlag, T.; Gerland, D.; Osswald, R. & Petersen W. (eds.), Meaning, Frames and Conceptual Representation, 15–42. Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf University Press. LYONS, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.ODA, Ryo. 2015. Uniqueness of the Definite Article with Respect to Cognitive Frames. In Meaning, Frames and Conceptual Representation, ed. Gamerschlag, T.; Gerland, D.; Osswald, R. & Petersen W.,71–92. Düsseldorf University Press, Düsseldorf.ZWARTS, Joost. 2014. Functional frames in the interpretation of weak nominals. In Aguilar-Guevara, A.; Le Bruin, B. and Zwarts, J. (eds.), Weak referentiality, 265–286. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.