Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The paper investigates the expression of definiteness and genericity in Rikbaktsa (Macro-Jê).The data was selected from the literature (SIL, 2007;Silva, 2011, Dellai et al., 2021) and collected through interviews with two native speakers, following Dayal's questionnaire (in press).The analysis shows: (i) Rikbaktsa has no articles; the demonstrative carries an anti-uniqueness presupposition, thus, it is not a definite article, and ʃtuba 'one' is the cardinal 1, (ii) the bare phrases, with and without plural morphology, allow definite and indefinite readings; (iii) the bare singularis mandatory in a situation where there is only one individual, but can convey plurality and genericity; (iv) the bare plural conveys plurality and genericity; it is mandatory with the predicate of extinction.The bare plural denotes a set of pluralities which can be shifted to the kind, whereas the bare singular does not carry information about number; singularity is an implicature.
Source: Amerindia
DOI: 10.56551/hvhn7718
Institution: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Language: Portuguese
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4401960545