Weak definites as bound relational definites

Abstract

This paper introduces a new proposal for accommodating “weak definites” (Carlson and Sussman 2005) within a comprehensive theory of definiteness. Weak definites are analyzed as relational definites and compared to other members of this paradigm: associative (or “bridging”) definites (Hawkins 1978), and full relational definites (Barker 1993). The main claim is that weak definites are based on a relational meaning containing free variables which are bound within their own clause. The proposal defines weak definiteness as a constructional meaning involving the whole host clause and triggering a meaning enrichment based on the telic quale (Pustejovsky 1995) of the head noun.

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