Definite: definiteness or state
| Values: | Def | Ind |
Definiteness is typically a feature of nouns and articles. Its value distinguishes whether we are talking about something known and concrete, or something general or unknown. It can be marked on indefinite articles, or directly on nouns.
In Western Armenian, definiteness is expressed by a postposed definite article ը/ë or ն/n attached to the noun (շունը, շունն/šownë, šownn “dog-the”). Indefiniteness is expressed either by the indefinite article մը/më (մըն, մ’/mën, m’) “a/an, one” or by the absence of an article (zero marking).
See also the related features of Person[psor] and Number[psor].
Ind: indefinite
Examples
- մը/më “a/an, one”
- խանութ մը/xanowtʼ më “(a) shop”
Def: definite
Examples
- շունը, շունն/šownë, šownn “the dog”
Definite in other languages: [axm] [bej] [bg] [el] [en] [es] [fr] [ga] [hu] [hy] [hyw] [it] [ky] [myv] [pal] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [sga] [sl] [sv] [tr] [u] [urj] [xcl]