Numberless indefinite definites in Italian

This paper investigates Numberless Indefinite Definites (NIDs) in Italian, an understudied class of nominal expressions that, despite their morphologically definite and singular form, convey an indefinite and number-neutral interpretation (e.g., L'hotel ha la piscina lit. 'the hotel has th...

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Autor: Morosi, Paolo|||0009-0002-8910-5337
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:323499
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/323499
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.566
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Numberless indefinite definites
Italian
(in)definiteness
Have-predicates
Derived kind predication
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spelling Numberless indefinite definites in ItalianStructure and meaningMorosi, Paolo|||0009-0002-8910-5337Numberless indefinite definitesItalian(in)definitenessHave-predicatesDerived kind predicationThis paper investigates Numberless Indefinite Definites (NIDs) in Italian, an understudied class of nominal expressions that, despite their morphologically definite and singular form, convey an indefinite and number-neutral interpretation (e.g., L'hotel ha la piscina lit. 'the hotel has the pool'). The study addresses two main questions: (i) what grammatical factors license NIDs in Italian? And (ii) how can their indefinite and number-neutral readings be compositionally derived? First, I argue that NIDs are exclusively licensed in the object position of have-predicates, provided that the resulting V+NID combination expresses a characterizing property of the subject. Second, I propose a novel compositional analysis of NIDs. To account for number-neutrality, I argue that these constructions lack Number specification and do not project a Number Phrase. As a result, they denote definite kinds, which receive an existential interpretation via Derived Kind Predication when combining with the selecting have-predicate. Besides providing a compositional account of the existential and number-neutral interpretation of NIDs, this analysis also explains their obligatory narrow scope behavior and their restriction to taxonomic modification. 22025-01-0120252025-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/323499https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.566reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengAgencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2020-112801GB-I00Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2023-150347NB-I00Generalitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021SGR00787Generalitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021FI_B 00096open accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:3234992026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
Structure and meaning
title Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
spellingShingle Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
Morosi, Paolo|||0009-0002-8910-5337
Numberless indefinite definites
Italian
(in)definiteness
Have-predicates
Derived kind predication
title_short Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
title_full Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
title_fullStr Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
title_full_unstemmed Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
title_sort Numberless indefinite definites in Italian
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Morosi, Paolo|||0009-0002-8910-5337
author Morosi, Paolo|||0009-0002-8910-5337
author_facet Morosi, Paolo|||0009-0002-8910-5337
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Numberless indefinite definites
Italian
(in)definiteness
Have-predicates
Derived kind predication
topic Numberless indefinite definites
Italian
(in)definiteness
Have-predicates
Derived kind predication
description This paper investigates Numberless Indefinite Definites (NIDs) in Italian, an understudied class of nominal expressions that, despite their morphologically definite and singular form, convey an indefinite and number-neutral interpretation (e.g., L'hotel ha la piscina lit. 'the hotel has the pool'). The study addresses two main questions: (i) what grammatical factors license NIDs in Italian? And (ii) how can their indefinite and number-neutral readings be compositionally derived? First, I argue that NIDs are exclusively licensed in the object position of have-predicates, provided that the resulting V+NID combination expresses a characterizing property of the subject. Second, I propose a novel compositional analysis of NIDs. To account for number-neutrality, I argue that these constructions lack Number specification and do not project a Number Phrase. As a result, they denote definite kinds, which receive an existential interpretation via Derived Kind Predication when combining with the selecting have-predicate. Besides providing a compositional account of the existential and number-neutral interpretation of NIDs, this analysis also explains their obligatory narrow scope behavior and their restriction to taxonomic modification.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2025-01-01
2025
2025-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://ddd.uab.cat/record/323499
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.566
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/323499
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/isogloss.566
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2020-112801GB-I00
Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2023-150347NB-I00
Generalitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021SGR00787
Generalitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021FI_B 00096
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
instname_str Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
collection Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
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