On the (in)definiteness of bare nouns in Dholuo

Joshua Dees

Keywords: syntax, semantics, bare nouns, (in)definiteness, type-shifting, blocking principle, N-to-D raising, NP/DP parameter, construct states, Dholuo, Nilotic

TL;DR: I demonstrate that Dholuo bare nouns are true definites and indefinites [cf. Dayal (2004)] and argue that this is because Dholuo does not use covert type-shifting as D is overtly expressed by a raised N being pronounced in this position.

Abstract: The following paper investigates the (in)definiteness of bare nouns in Dholuo (Nilo-Saharan), an article-less language. Dayal (1999, 2004, 2011, 2017) posits that bare nouns in article-less languages (e.g., Hindi and Russian) are kind denoting and definites, but not true indefinites. Based on this, she further argues that Chierchia’s (1998) ranking of covert type-shifts (nom > {iota, ∃}) should be revised to b. {nom, iota} > ∃. In this paper, I demonstrate that Dholuo bare nouns are definites and indefinites (as well as kind denoting). At first glance, this appears to go against the ranking of covert type-shifting and the findings from Dayal (1999, 2004, 2011, 2017). However, I argue that there are structural differences between Dholuo and certain other article-less languages (i.e., Hindi and Russian). With Bošković’s (2008, 2012) NP/DP parameter in mind, I argue that Dholuo is a DP language whereas languages like Hindi and Russian are NP languages. Therefore, the DP structure in Dholuo is made visible by N-movement operations, whereas Hindi (and Russian) must rely on covert-type shifting, since they lack both ways that DP can be made visible (articles and N-raising). This is why Hindi and Russian adhere to Dayal's ranking of covert type-shifts and Dholuo does not.

Submission Number: 172