w12c Order Definite Article–Noun with singular count nouns in object position

w12c: Order Definite Article – Noun with singular count nouns in object position

This property is set to "yes" if the language has the order Definite Article (or, for languages without articles, noun class marker, classifier, case ending, adposition, ...) Noun, with singular count nouns in object position.

Elicitation Context

I met two boys and a girl. I invited the girl to the party
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Additional instructions

1. This property applies only to definite singular count nouns (the girl, the man), not to indefinite singular count nouns, kinship nouns or proper names
2. The noun must be unmodified (no adjectives, no possessors, no relative clauses, no other modifiers ...)
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For this property, the definite mass noun must be unmodified, i.e. must NOT be modified by an adjective (the beautiful girl), a possessor (my book ), a relative clause (the book that I bought), or other modifiers (the book with the red cover)

3. If there is more than one object position in your language, test this property for each position
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In some languages the mass noun for example could lack a case marker when it is adjacent to the verb., but must have a case marker in any other position

4. If you notice any difference between affirmative and negative contexts (i.e. put the water in the fridge vs. don’t put the water in the fridge), please comment (or contact us)

NB: A “yes” value for this property does not exclude a yes value for property “w12d Order N – DefArt with singular count nouns in object position”.

Examples

1.

English is “yes” for this property. It has the order DefArt--N with singular count nouns in object position.

(i)     I met two boys and a girl. I invited the girl

2.

Rumanian is “no” for this property. With unmodified singular count nouns, the order DefArt--N is excluded in object position.

N--DefArt is the only possible order.