A Relevance-theoretic Approach to the Definite Article in English

Abstract

Choi, In Ji. 2015. A Relevance-theoretic Approach to the Definite Article in English. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics, 15-4, 817-851. There is a long-standing debate on the nature of definite noun phrases: do they involve familiarity or uniqueness? The familiarity theory (Christophersen, 1939; Kamp, 1981; Heim, 1982) claims that a definite description denotes an existing discourse referent, whereas the uniqueness theory (Russell, 1905; Hawkins, 1978, 1991) claims that the definite article indicates the uniqueness of the referent. However, both approaches overlook the contribution of the definite article to implicatures. The aim of this study is two fold: first, to look at what the definite article in English means, the information it encodes, and the effect this information has, and second, to provide an analysis of how hearers use this encoded meaning to interpret definite descriptions in utterance contexts. Adopting the framework of relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1986/95), I argue that the definite article encodes procedural meaning, which guides the hearer not only to an intended referent but also to an intended overall interpretation.