Universität zu Köln

Barton, Dagmar, Kolb, Nadine and Kupisch, Tanja (2015). Definite article use with generic reference in German: an empirical study. Z. Sprachwiss., 34 (2). S. 147 - 174. BERLIN: DE GRUYTER MOUTON. ISSN 1613-3706

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Abstract

This study is concerned with the distribution of the definite article in German with plural nominals that have a generic reading. In Standard German, genericity is typically expressed by bare nouns (Tiger sind gefahrlich 'Tigers are dangerous'). Many researchers have claimed that there is variation in article use in the expression of generic reference in German (e.g., Brugger 1993; Longobardi 1994; Krifka et al. 1995; Chierchia 1998; Dayal 2004; Oosterhof 2008), but very little empirical evidence has been provided to support this claim. Besides filling this research gap, we investigate which factors influence the use of articles in plural subjects with generic reference. In doing so, we include linguistic factors (kind-level vs. individual-level predicates) as well as sociolinguistic factors (age and regional background). Results show that with generic plural subjects definite articles are optional but bare subjects are preferred; definite subjects are accepted more often with kind-level predicates than with individual-level predicates.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Barton, Dagmar UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kolb, Nadine UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kupisch, Tanja UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-387593
DOI:	10.1515/zfs-2015-0009
Journal or Publication Title:	Z. Sprachwiss.
Volume:	34
Number:	2
Page Range:	S. 147 - 174
Date:	2015
Publisher:	DE GRUYTER MOUTON
Place of Publication:	BERLIN
ISSN:	1613-3706
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Linguistics; Language & Linguistics Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/38759