Explaining Article-Possessor Complementarity
Economic Motivation in Noun Phrase Syntax
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2899006 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Martin Haspelmath (0000-0003-2100-8493, Max Planck Society, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 227 |
| Publication date | 1999-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0097-8507 • E-ISSN: 1535-0665 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/417260 |
| OpenAlex | W1999446944 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 41 |
| References cited | 24 |
In many languages the definite article cannot occur when a possessive phrase is present in the NP (e.g. English the my book, John's the book). I argue that these patterns can be understood in terms of economic motivation because possessed NPs are very likely to be definite. A structural explanation in terms of a unique determiner position is insufficient to account for the full range of attested crosslinguistic patterns, and the universal generalizations that do seem to be valid can be derived from the economy-based explanation. Finally I show how the performance motivation of economy creates the competence pattern in diachronic change
Complementarity (molecular biology) · Determiner phrase · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Noun · Noun phrase · Phrase · Syntax · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Does linguistic explanation presuppose linguistic description
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Connecting the typology and semantics of nominal possession
Frequency and serial order
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Typology and Universals
Functionalism and Grammar
Two Functional Categories in Noun Phrases
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Grundriß der deutschen Grammatik
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Auf dem Wege zu einer Theorie des Sprachwandels
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Definiteness and the Processing of Noun Phrases in Natural Discourse
Definite Possessives and Discourse Novelty
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The Syntactic Phenomena of English
A Performance Theory of Order and Constituency
On Language Change
Reference Grammar of Amharic
The syntax of English genitive constructions
Phrase structure and directionality in Irish
Possessives and the distinction between determiners and modifiers (with special reference to German)
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Some Functions of the Initial Vowel in Nkore-Kiga
Iconic and Economic Motivation
| Unique citing works | 41 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,52 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2025 (27) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 35 |