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Universal 375:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 375:

Original
In all languages, an expression which refers to the topic of a sentence is typically definite or generic.
Standardized
IF an expression is the topic of a sentence, THEN it is typically definite or generic.
Keywords
topic, definiteness, generic
Domain
syntax, pragmatics
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
a sample of 30 languages, see Gundel 1988: 210
Source
Gundel 1988: 231
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP
    1. May 2020

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