Definiteness
In
grammatical theory,
definiteness is a feature of
noun phrases, distinguishing between entities which are specific and identifiable in a given context (definite noun phrases) and entities which are not (indefinite noun phrases).
There is considerable variation in the expression of definiteness across languages: some languages use a definite
article (which can be a free form, a phrasal
clitic, or an
affix on the noun) to mark a definite noun phrase. Examples are:
* Free form: English
the boy.
* Phrasal clitic: as in
Basque: Cf.
emakume ("woman"),
emakume-a (woman-ART: "the woman"),
emakume ederr-a (woman beautiful-ART: "the beautiful woman")
* Noun affix: as in
Romanian:
om ("man"),
om-ul (man-ART: "the man");
om-ul bun (man-ART good: "the good man")
In contrast, the great majority of languages do not have a definite article. Some examples are
Chinese,
Japanese,
Finnish, and all the
Slavic languages except
Bulgarian. When necessary, languages of this kind may indicate definiteness by other means such as
demonstratives.
It is common for definiteness to interact with the marking of
case in certain syntactic contexts. In many languages
direct objects (DOs) receive distinctive marking only if they are definite. For example in
Turkish, the DO in the sentence
adamları gördüm (meaning "I saw the men") is marked with the suffix
-ı (indicating definiteness). The absence of the suffix means that the DO is indefinite ("I saw men").
*
Status constructus*
Article (grammar)* Hawkins, J.A. (1978)
Definiteness and indefiniteness: a study in reference and grammaticality prediction. London:Croom Helm.
*Lyons, Christopher (1999)
Definiteness. Cambridge University Press.
