(C)overt (in)definiteness marking in Bulgarian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian

Abstract

The paper presents an experimental investigation of NP marking of discourse-new subjects in Bulgarian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. The study showed that bare NPs are favoured in articleless languages, despite the general availability of overt indefinite marking, which can be considered optional. In Bulgarian (language with a definite article) the use of bare NPs is restricted to non-salient referents (e.g., with postverbal subjects). The results obtained provide support to the hypothesis that bare NPs in articleless languages are compatible with an indefinite interpretation.