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On the nature of object omission: indefiniteness as indeterminacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2017

JINSEUNG EU
JINSEUNG EU*
Affiliation:
38 Chungparo 63-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South [email protected]
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Abstract

This squib attempts to bring more precision to the understanding of object omission in English by investigating the referential behavior of omitted objects. Allerton (1975) and Fillmore (1986) understand omitted objects as being indefinite, by which they mean that omitted objects are unknown and insulated from their potential referents available in the context. However, this squib presents data that challenge this understanding of indefiniteness, and proposes that the indefiniteness of omitted objects may be more precisely understood as their indeterminacy over their potential referents.

Type
Squib
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , November 2018 , pp. 523 - 530
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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