Questions tagged [indefinite-article]
The indefinite-article tag has no usage guidance.
16 questions
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Albanian, usage of definite nominative for proper nouns
I am learning Albanian using the book "Discovering Albanian". In chapter 2, the book introduces the definitive form of the nominative case and explains how to use it whit proper names.
It is ...
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How to interpret Givón's (1981) implicational scale for indefinite articles developed from numeral 'one'?
I'm having trouble understanding the implicational scale for indefinite articles developed from numeral 'one' given by T Givón (1981: 50-52).
T. Givón in his paper "On the development of the ...
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Is the indefinite article a quantifier?
This may sound like a stupid query, but:
Is the indefinite article, a(n), a quantifier?
To this date, I've regarded it as a quantifier because, while it is an article, it quantifies an NP to ...
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How much more often is a definite article used with a noun than an indefinite article in the English language?
I'd be happy if I could get an overall answer to this question, but if someone is also capable of breaking this down by
single vs. plural nouns
nouns as subject vs. nouns as direct objects
nouns as ...
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Definite descriptions and essentially indistinguishable participants
In the analysis of definite descriptions there is a problem called "The Problem of Indistinguishable Participants", exemplified by the so-called bishop sentences:
If a bishop meets a bishop, the ...
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"Indifferent" reference of specific indefinites?
There is a class of indefinites sometimes called "specific indefinites" that refer to one individual. For example:
A man walked into a bar followed by two others. He ordered a drink.
With this ...
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Are there other languages, besides English, where the indefinite (or definite) article varies based on sound?
I was talking today with an English co-worker about whether he says "an H-1B visa" or "a H-1B visa", which hinges on whether one says "aitch" or "haitch" for the letter H.
And I noticed that unlike ...
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Is there a language with dual indefinite articles?
At university, we have been looking into language change, and seeing how for example "one" was used as the singular indefinite article, which changed into "a", but a question arose about whether or ...
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Understanding the purpose of determiners/articles/demonstratives in language
This was an interesting read:
Articles have developed independently in many different language families across the globe. Generally, articles develop over time usually by specialization of certain ...
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Does "a" in "I made a mistake" denote indefiniteness? [closed]
I made a mistake.
Here, "a" is called the indefinite article in contrast with the definite article "the".
But does "a" in this sentence denote indefiniteness?
As far as I can tell, "a" is needed ...
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Tools to work with definiteness
I am planning to do a research paper in the definite articles of my dialect. Can anyone provide me with any framework that is suitable for analyzing the definite articles?
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"an" -> "a" When Describing a Noun With Adjectives
Observed in fluent speech:
a unrounded vowel
To a native English speaker, the following would be expected instead:
an unrounded vowel
What's happening here? It looks like the speaker is ...
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(in)definite articles
Do any languages distinguish between indefinite and definite articles thus:
one beer 1sg-drink `I drank A beer.'
beer 1sg-drink `I drank THE/A beer.'
That is, is it possible for a language to mark ...
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Are there languages with indefinite articles but for which the word for "one" is not related etymologically to any of the indefinite articles?
This is part of a set of three related questions but note they are each specific and distinct, they are not duplicates.
In all the languages I'm familiar with that have an indefinite article, the ...
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Are there languages which lack a full number system but which have an indefinite article?
Most languages have a fully developed concept of numbers but many do not, for instance most Australian Aboriginal languages lack numbers and counting beyond a few such as 1, 2, and 3.
Many languages ...
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How do linguists determine whether a language has an indefinite article?
Given:
For those languages which have it, the indefinite article mostly if not always is derived from the numeral for "one".
Most languages have numbers but many lack articles.
How do linguists ...
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