Definite

Definite

In grammatical theory, definiteness is a feature of noun phrases, distinguishing between entities that are specific and identifiable in a given context (definite noun phrases) and entities which are not (indefinite noun phrases).

There is considerable variation in the expression of definiteness across languages:

  • Some languages, e.g. English, use separate words called articles (e.g. the indefinite article a/an and the definite article the).
  • In other languages, the article is a clitic that attaches phonologically to the noun (and often to modifying adjectives), e.g. the Hebrew definite article ha- or the Arabic definite article al-.
  • In yet other languages, definiteness is indicated by affixes on the noun or on modifying adjectives, much like the expression of grammatical number and grammatical case. In these languages, the inflections indicating definiteness may be quite complex. In the Germanic languages and Balto-Slavic languages, for example (as still in modern German and Lithuanian), there are two entirely different paradigms for adjectives, one used in definite noun phrases and the other used in indefinite noun phrases.
  • In some languages, e.g. Hungarian, definiteness is marked on the verb.

Read more about Definite:  Use in Different Languages, Grammatical State

Famous quotes containing the word definite:

    “There are many definite methods, honest and dishonest, which make people rich; the only “instinct” I know of which does it is that instinct which theological Christianity crudely describes as “the sin of avarice.””
    —Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)

    “Mathematics may be compared to a mill of exquisite workmanship, which grinds your stuff to any degree of fineness; but, nevertheless, what you get out depends on what you put in; and as the grandest mill in the world will not extract wheat flour from peascods, so pages of formulae will not get a definite result out of loose data.”
    —Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)

    “God is the efficient cause not only of the existence of things, but also of their essence.
    Corr. Individual things are nothing but modifications of the attributes of God, or modes by which the attributes of God are expressed in a fixed and definite manner.”
    —Baruch (Benedict)