Constraints on the position and interpretation of bare singular indefinites in Russian

In this paper, I discuss the distribution of bare singular indefinite nominals in Russian. I argue that these nominal phrases are full-fledged indefinites and can have both specific and non-specific indefinite interpretations. However, their appearance in the preverbal subject position is not common...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Olga Borik
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2016-12-01
Series:Linguistica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/linguistica/article/view/7196
Description
Summary:In this paper, I discuss the distribution of bare singular indefinite nominals in Russian. I argue that these nominal phrases are full-fledged indefinites and can have both specific and non-specific indefinite interpretations. However, their appearance in the preverbal subject position is not common. I argue in this paper that this restriction exists because a specific interpretation, or, in other words, a referential reading, required for this position cannot be unambiguously established with BSgs without any additional sentential specification. Additionally, I discuss some consequences of my proposal, such as BSg subjects of individual-level predicates, and BSg subjects in thetic judgments.
ISSN:0024-3922
2350-420X