Definite: definiteness or state
Definiteness is typically a feature of nouns, adjectives and articles. Its value distinguishes whether we are talking about something known and concrete, or something general or unknown. It can be marked on definite and indefinite articles, or directly on nouns, adjectives etc.
In Bulgarian there are definite and indefinite articles. The definite article is part of the word, in postposition (жената / zhenata ‘woman-the’ (the woman))). The indefinite articles can be: the form един / edin (one) or the zero marker.
However, when added to a nominal phrase, the articles become phrasal affixes, i.e. Bulgarian does not have agreement is definiteness. For example, хубавата висока руса жена / hubavata visoka rusa zhena ‘pretty-the tall blond woman’ (the pretty tall blond woman).
Ind: indefinite
Examples
- Видях една жена да минава по улицата / Vidyah edna zhena da minava po ulitsata “I saw a woman walking on the street”
- Видях жена да минава по улицата / Vidyah zhena da minava po ulitsata “I saw a woman walking on the street”
Def: definite
Examples
- Видях жената да минава по улицата / Vidyah zhenata da minava po ulitsata “I saw the woman walking on the street”
Definite in other languages: [bej] [bg] [el] [en] [es] [fr] [ga] [hu] [hy] [it] [ky] [myv] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [sga] [sl] [sv] [tr] [u] [urj]