In:Anaphors in Text: Cognitive, formal and applied approaches to anaphoric reference
Edited by Monika Schwarz-Friesel, Manfred Consten and Mareile Knees
[Studies in Language Companion Series 86] 2007
► pp. 123–144
Accessibility and definite noun phrases
Published online: 15 May 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.86.12heu
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.86.12heu
Accessibility is a dynamic discourse structure that is the sum of the salience structure of particular referential expressions. On the one hand, accessibility is continuously updated by referential expressions, while on the other, it determines the reference of definite expression. In this paper, I show that not only indefinite noun phrases, but also definite noun phrases update the accessibility structure of a discourse by promoting the actual referent to the most salient of its kind and some supersets. This dynamic potential of definite noun phrases establishes text coherence by means of salience spreading.
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Loureda, Óscar, Mathis Teucher, Adriana Cruz, Celia Hernández Pérez & Carlos Gelormini-Lezama
Manuélian, Hélène & Catherine Schnedecker
Barberà, Gemma & Josep Quer
2018. Nominal referential values of semantic classifiers and role shift in signed narratives. In Linguistic Foundations of Narration in Spoken and Sign Languages [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 247], ► pp. 251 ff.
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