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Generics in Mainland Scandinavian languages

  • Dominika Skrzypek EMAIL logo and Anna Kurek
Published/Copyright: October 17, 2018
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Abstract

The paper examines nominal expressions of genericity as found in generic texts (ornithological atlases) in Mainland Scandinavian languages. The material is subdivided into first mentions and subsequent mentions and these are reported separately. Subsequent mentions can be said to be subject to conflicting principles – on the one hand they are generic, on the other anaphoric. The results show that all three languages prefer singular definite NPs to express first mention genericity, however, significant differences are found in subsequent mentions.

Funding source: Narodowe Centrum Nauki

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2015/19/B/HS2/00143

Funding statement: The research presented in this paper was financed by a research grant from Polish National Science Centre (NCN) ‘Diachrony of definiteness in Scandinavian languages’ number 2015/19/B/HS2/00143. The authors gratefully acknowledge this support.

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Published Online: 2018-10-17
Published in Print: 2018-10-25

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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