Definiteness in a language without articles

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This book investigates how definiteness is expressed in Polish, a language without definite and indefinite articles. The central question examines how the distinction between ‘a woman’ and ‘the woman’ is conveyed in Polish. While English uses the definite article ‘the’ and the indefinite article ‘a’ to explicitly express definiteness, articleless languages like Polish rely on alternative means to indicate whether a nominal phrase is definite or indefinite. The study focuses on four strategies for expressing definiteness in Polish: demonstratives, aspect, case alternation, and information structure. Each strategy is analyzed independently, though they interact in complex ways, culminating in a decision tree presented at the book's conclusion. The research also includes comparisons with other Slavic languages and the Upper Silesian dialect, which differs from standard Polish. The analysis is grounded in Löbner’s theory of ‘Concept Types and Determination’ (CTD), emphasizing the importance of his four concept types (sortal, relational, functional, individual) in explaining the definiteness phenomena. The interplay between these concept types and the strategies for expressing definiteness is a central focus of the study.