Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

686 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
(20) Ik heb een boek uit je kast gehaald.
I have a book out of your bookcase taken
‘I have taken a book from your shelves.’
The discussion above amounts to saying that, unlike the case with definite noun
phrases, the use of an indefinite noun phrase in presentative clauses does not imply
that set A in Figure 1 only contains entities that are part of domain D. It rather
contains all entities that satisfy the description of the NP, and the referent of the
noun phrase therefore need not be identifiable for the speaker and the hearer. In this
sense indefinite noun phrases are typically non-D-linked. The same thing holds for
indefinite noun phrases headed by a non-count noun like in Er staat wijn in de
keuken ‘There is wine in the kitchen’; cf. the discussion below (7).
III. Special cases
Subsections I and II have shown that the use of a definite noun phrase indicates that
the referent in question is part of domain D, whereas indefinite noun phrases may
introduce new referents into domain D. There are, however, certain special
restrictions on the use of indefinite noun phrases, which is due to the fact that
entities can sometimes also be introduced into domain D by using a definite noun
phrase. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we will briefly discuss below some
typical situations in which this is possible.
A. Common knowledge
Picture the following situation. John is walking, and he meets someone he has never
seen before. Given that domain D is largely determined by agreement among the
participants in the discourse, one would assume that the conversation between John
and the other person starts with a tabula rasa. However, the fact that John could not
utter example (21a) without sounding silly shows that certain entities cannot be
introduced into discourse by means of an indefinite noun phrase: (21a) suggests that
there is more than one sun that could be relevant in this context, and this conflicts
with the knowledge that we normally ascribe to people. Therefore the use of a
definite noun phrase is preferred. This shows that the use of definite noun phrases
does not entirely depend on domain D, but may also reflect intuitions of the speaker
about the extra-linguistic knowledge one can ascribe to all individuals (in his
society). Or, to say it differently, some entities like the sun, moon, etc. can be
evoked in any conversation without being explicitly part of domain D; simply
mentioning the sun is sufficient for any speaker to identify the entity the noun
phrase is referring to.
(21) a. Er komt een zon op.
there rises a sun prt.
‘A sun is rising.’
b. De zon komt op.
the sun rises prt.