Definite Markers, Phi Features and Agreement - Georgetown ...

This is anomalous in the light of the previous generalization, and I will not be treating this fact indetail here. Some discussion of how it can be accounted for in the analysis developed below,though, can be found in the conclusion.DPs containing demonstratives seem to have no definiteness marking at all, no matterwhere the definite marker attempts to attach.(15) a. ya bet b. *ya bet-u c. *ya-w betthat house that house-DEF that-DEF house 4However, when an adjective is present, the adjective can be optionally marked for definiteness,with no change in meaning.(16) ya tllk’(-u) betthat big(-DEF) housethat big houseThis is reminiscent of the optional definite marking on an adjective after an initial adjective orrelative clause, and I argue below that both are cases of definiteness agreement.Before concluding, it is worth looking briefly at definite marking in possessive DPs.Amharic possessors are prepositional phrases (using the preposition yä-, homophonous with the4 The demonstrative can combine with a definite marker when no nominal stem is present, but theseforms are probably frozen, e.g., yaw and yaññaw “that one,” (yaw can also mean ‘the same’), yhäw “thisone.”32