Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian
In languages that have a definite article but no indefinite article, the definite article typically maps to definites, and the bare noun maps to indefinites. We investigate this mapping in Malagasy, which imposes an additional restriction: bare nouns cannot be subjects. We ask whether the subject ca...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Languages |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/202 |
| _version_ | 1827659597911949312 |
|---|---|
| author | Ileana Paul Giuliana Giusti Gianluca E. Lebani |
| author_facet | Ileana Paul Giuliana Giusti Gianluca E. Lebani |
| author_sort | Ileana Paul |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In languages that have a definite article but no indefinite article, the definite article typically maps to definites, and the bare noun maps to indefinites. We investigate this mapping in Malagasy, which imposes an additional restriction: bare nouns cannot be subjects. We ask whether the subject can be interpreted as indefinite, given the obligatory nature of the article. We also look at DPs in other positions (direct object, clefted subjects) to determine whether the mapping between form and meaning is one-to-one. To answer these questions, we administered an on-line questionnaire that presented participants with the choice of the article or the bare noun in the different positions (subject, object, cleft) in contexts that favoured an indefinite/novel interpretation. As predicted, the article was obligatory in subject position, but disfavoured in the object and cleft position. These results confirm current descriptions in the literature. We compare these results with a similar case of definite article in indefinite nominals found in Italian and propose that the article does not carry definiteness features (at least in these cases) but overtly marks (abstract) Case assignment on subjects, while it can remain silent on objects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9cb2a378e09e48ddb1378690fa9fcc67 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-9cb2a378e09e48ddb1378690fa9fcc672023-11-23T17:20:53ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2022-08-017320210.3390/languages7030202Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with ItalianIleana Paul0Giuliana Giusti1Gianluca E. Lebani2Department of French Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, CanadaDepartment of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30123 Venice, ItalyDepartment of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30123 Venice, ItalyIn languages that have a definite article but no indefinite article, the definite article typically maps to definites, and the bare noun maps to indefinites. We investigate this mapping in Malagasy, which imposes an additional restriction: bare nouns cannot be subjects. We ask whether the subject can be interpreted as indefinite, given the obligatory nature of the article. We also look at DPs in other positions (direct object, clefted subjects) to determine whether the mapping between form and meaning is one-to-one. To answer these questions, we administered an on-line questionnaire that presented participants with the choice of the article or the bare noun in the different positions (subject, object, cleft) in contexts that favoured an indefinite/novel interpretation. As predicted, the article was obligatory in subject position, but disfavoured in the object and cleft position. These results confirm current descriptions in the literature. We compare these results with a similar case of definite article in indefinite nominals found in Italian and propose that the article does not carry definiteness features (at least in these cases) but overtly marks (abstract) Case assignment on subjects, while it can remain silent on objects.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/202Malagasybare nounsdefinite articleindefiniteness |
| spellingShingle | Ileana Paul Giuliana Giusti Gianluca E. Lebani Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian Languages Malagasy bare nouns definite article indefiniteness |
| title | Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian |
| title_full | Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian |
| title_fullStr | Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian |
| title_short | Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian |
| title_sort | variation in the occurrence and interpretation of articles in malagasy a comparison with italian |
| topic | Malagasy bare nouns definite article indefiniteness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/202 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ileanapaul variationintheoccurrenceandinterpretationofarticlesinmalagasyacomparisonwithitalian AT giulianagiusti variationintheoccurrenceandinterpretationofarticlesinmalagasyacomparisonwithitalian AT gianlucaelebani variationintheoccurrenceandinterpretationofarticlesinmalagasyacomparisonwithitalian |