In:
Linguistics in the Netherlands, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Vol. 32 ( 2015-12-17), p. 75-87
Abstract:
Indefinite articles are generally used to introduce new or unfamiliar entities to the discourse. However, in noun phrases such as een opgeluchte Obama ‘a relieved Obama’, the proper noun denotes a familiar individual who does not even have to be new in the discourse. Yet, an indefinite article is used in this construction. We have conducted a corpus study in written Dutch and a production experiment in order to find out the characteristics of this construction as well as its definite counterpart. We will show that the denotation of the adjective plays a crucial role in the semantic composition of the construction, and that preferences for either a definite or an indefinite article correlate with differences in the duration of the state denoted by the adjective. We will use semantic type-theory to account for these findings.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0929-7332
,
1569-9919
DOI:
10.1075/avt.32.06hoo
Language:
English
Publisher:
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2078742-X
SSG:
7,11
SSG:
7,23
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