Determination s.s.1 is
- a set of linguistic operations which manipulate the referentiality of their operand
- the syntagmatic relation between the operator, viz. a determiner, and the operand, which is a nominal expression.
- Semantically, determination renders the operand referential or, on the contrary, specifies that it is non-referential. In the first case, determination actualizes the notion designated by the operand.
- Structurally, determination combines the determiner with the operand. This converts a nominal into a noun phrase.
The referentiality of a nominal expression may also be set by operations not provided by the linguistic system, i.e. by pragmatic operations.
1 Especially in European structuralism, ‘determination’ has also been used in a wider sense where, given a syntagma [D H] where D restricts the semantic domain of H, D determines H.
Semantic features typically set by determination include:
- definite vs. indefinite
- specific vs. non-specific
The class of determiners typically comprises:
- articles (engl. the, a)
- demonstratives (engl. this, that ...)
- possessive pro-adjectives (engl. my, their ...)
- indefinite determiners (engl. some ...)
All of these may be free or bound elements.
Determiner and pronoun are two different distribution classes.
However, many proforms fall into both classes.
However, many proforms fall into both classes.