On a Unitary Semantical Analysis for De finite and Indefinite Descriptions

Abstract

Abstract Philosophers of language (and semanticists) do not agree on much, but few have felt reason to doubt that there are at least two kinds of descriptions in natural language: de finite descriptions (e.g. of the form ‘the F ’), used in sentences which say that there is a unique satisfier of F, and indefinite descriptions (e.g. of the form ‘an F ’), used in sentences which claim only that something or other satisfies F. However, if analytic philosophy had spawned in languages other than English and German, this assumption might not appear so innocent. In many languages—even many Indo-European languages—we do not find these two kinds of descriptions, at least not on the surface.

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