Original scientific paper

Features of noun being integrated into discourse

Jana Willer-Gold orcid.org/0000-0001-7664-170X ; University of Zagreb

Abstract

Determiners enclose information on the relation a noun in a structure has to its value in the discourse. In languages with overt determiners, the definite article rarely refers back to an individual introduced in the previous sentence, rather the article emphasises the topichood of the topic; by contrast, in languages with no overt article, determiners are employed to refer back to the anaphora in the preceding sentence. The asymmetry of these two systems requires spelling out of the process by which an individual is detected for coindexation in the latter language type. Here, in order to point to the variability in processes of expressing and establishing individual’s features, we determine the features contributing to individualization in higher projections of nominal domain with a nominal, and a clausal, nucleus. Demonstrating that the relation between the nominal domain and the discourse is achieved through agreement in Person feature in subject-predicate dependency, and furthermore, that Person feature is predicted to assist at insuring coindexation across discourse, we present a process in which features ensures the values, and structural relations determine the moment at which they surface.

Keywords

nominal phrase; determiners; gender feature; topic-focus; individualization

Hrčak ID:

167792

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/167792

Publication date:

21.10.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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