名词确指性的判断标准

Criterion of Definiteness

名词确指性有三种定义标准。一是依据形式特征的句法确指 ;一是依据所指唯一性的语义确指 ;一是依据信息已知性的语用确指。该文认为语义确指和语用确指都不能全面解释名词的确指性 。

The notion of definiteness is sometimes taken to be a formal (grammatical) property of NPs, but is it also taken to be a conceptual property of entities, i.e. semantically defined by the principle of uniqueness, and sometimes taken to be pragmatic property, i.e.defined by the principle of familiarity in a discourse model. The article argues that the attempt to find a unified characterization of definiteness in terms of semantics or pragmatics is misguided, and that definiteness should be defined as a grammatical category--only grammatical definiteness is consistent.