Position of Indefinite Article in the Noun Phrase (Feature 10)
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Feature Annotation
A morpheme is considered here to be an indefinite article if it accompanies a noun and signals that the noun phrase is pragmatically indefinite in the sense that it denotes something not identifiable by the hearer, like the English word a in a dog. This includes the use of the numeral for ‘one’ as an indefinite article and affixes on nouns signalling indefiniteness.
This feature asks whether the indefinite article (if it exists) occurs before or after the noun or simultaneously before and after (circumposed article).
If you choose Value 4, no other value may be chosen.
Additional remarks
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Values
| Value | Value Annotation | |
| 1 | Indefinite article is preposed | Bahamian Creole English one ghost horse [indef ghost horse] ’a ghost horse’ |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Indefinite article is postposed | Kinubi nyere’ku ‘way [boy=indef] ’a boy’ |
| 3 | Definite article is circumposed | |
| 4 | The language has no indefinite article | Chinuk Wawa |
WALS No.
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