Bare singular NPs in argument positions: Restrictions on Indefiniteness.

Ljudmila Geist

Abstract:

It has been assumed that in articleless languages such as Russian, bare singular NPs in argument
positions can receive a defi nite or an indefi nite interpretation. While the defi nite interpretation
depends on the broader discourse and may freely arise if the referent is familiar, the option of an
indefi nite interpretation for bare NPs introducing new discourse referents is more restricted.
Th is paper investigates conditions on the indefi nite interpretation of bare singular NPs in
Russian. It shows that this interpretation is restricted by the topic-comment structure: the indefi -
nite interpretation may arise only if the NP belongs to the comment part of the sentence and is
excluded for NPs which are aboutness topics. Th is restriction can be explained by the requirement
that indefi nite aboutness topics must be specifi c. Bare indefi nite NPs however can only
receive a non-specifi c existential interpretation, and hence do not qualify as topics. Th e paper
contributes to the elucidation of the interaction between the semantic and pragmatic components
of an overall theory of NP interpretation and argues that weak existential NPs should be
distinguished from cases of noun incorporation.