Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 English articles: the research traditions
- 3 English article usage
- 4 A unified description of the English articles
- 5 Finnish: no articles
- 6 Finnish spesies
- 7 The status of definiteness in Finnish
- 8 English and Finnish contrasted
- 9 Wider perspectives
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
9 - Wider perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 English articles: the research traditions
- 3 English article usage
- 4 A unified description of the English articles
- 5 Finnish: no articles
- 6 Finnish spesies
- 7 The status of definiteness in Finnish
- 8 English and Finnish contrasted
- 9 Wider perspectives
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
Definiteness
This final chapter will examine a number of more general theoretical implications arising from the present study. The first of these has to do with the theory of definiteness as a whole.
The analysis of definiteness I have put forward is a componential one. That is, it argues that definiteness is not a primitive, unitary concept, but is itself analysable into components. In both languages one such component has to do with quantity: quantity (±all) is thus seen as a primary term, and definiteness as a secondary one. Another component (locatability) has to do partly with what has loosely been termed reference (but see below, 9.2). A further component which is relevant to definiteness in English is extensivity, which roughly means the degree of abstraction or generality of a concept (see 2.3).
These components are of rather different kinds, partly pragmatic and partly semantic (see 9.4 below). In Hawkins' (1978) location theory, which has been a major source of inspiration for the present study, definiteness is also seen componentially, in terms of locatability and inclusiveness. Hawkins sees locatability as a pragmatic feature and inclusiveness as semantic. However, I have shown (2.2.2) that inclusiveness is also largely a matter of pragmatics. The only component that one might argue to be purely semantic is extensivity, which is not included in Hawkins' analysis at all.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- On DefinitenessA Study with Special Reference to English and Finnish, pp. 181 - 205Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991