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Individuation and definiteness in Santiago del Estero Quichua: implications for the structure of the nominal phrase

  • Mayra Juanatey ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: October 20, 2025

Abstract

Referential expressions in a language may vary depending on the degree of individuation assigned to each referent mention by the speaker and/or the assumed identifiability of the referent in discourse – that is, definiteness. This study examines how individuation and definiteness are expressed in Santiago del Estero Quichua (Quechua, Argentina) and their impact on noun phrase structure. Through empirical analysis using a text corpus, it was found that the morphology of the noun phrase, including determiners, quantifiers, adjectives, possessive suffixes, and case marking interact to signal different degrees of individuation and definiteness. In this language, the outermost positions (initial and final) of the noun phrase are typically reserved for discourse-referential modifiers, which play a key role in specifying and grounding referents. This conforms to the typological expectation that discourse-referential modifiers are semantically located in the outer layer of the noun phrase – an organization reflected iconically in the syntax. The study offers new insights into the noun phrase structure of Santiago del Estero Quichua, highlighting features such as differential object marking and flexible noun–adjective word order, which remain understudied. Moreover, they contribute to the understanding of how individuation and definiteness are expressed across world languages and the typology of noun phrase structures.


Corresponding author: Mayra Juanatey, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)-Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), Tandil, Argentina, E-mail:

Abbreviations

1

first person

2

second person

3

third person

a

adjective

abl

ablative

acc

accusative

add

additive

advr

adverbializer

appl

applicative

attr

attribute

com

commitative

cond

conditional

cont

continuity

cop

copula verb

cvb

converb

dem

demonstrative

dim

diminutive

disc

discontinuity

dist

distal

dsm

differential subject marking

dom

differential object marking

euph

euphonic

excl

exclusive

gen

genitive

imp

imperative

loc

locative

med

medial

n

noun

neg

negation

nmlz

nominalizer

num

numeral

obj

object

part

partitive

pl

plural

poss

possessive

prop

proprietive

prox

proximal

pst

past

q

question

quant

quantifier

refl

reflexive

sg

singular

stat

stative

top

discursive topic marker

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Published Online: 2025-10-20
Published in Print: 2025-09-25

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