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§11 Determiners

Whereas pronouns replace nouns or a noun phrase, determiners give additional information about a noun or a noun phrase. A hallmark of determiners in Pine is that a noun or noun phrase is preceded by a determiner and followed by an independent pronoun that agrees in animacy and number with the head of the noun phrase. The independent pronoun generally does not agree in grammatical case unless the determiner phrase lacks a nominal head (noun, adjective or pronoun), but in cases where the determiner phrase’s head is a verb, case markings must be found on the independent pronoun:

The most common determiner in Pine is mi Ø įo/(n)a/(n)ỉ ‘the’, which acts similarly to a definite article in English but differs in many ways.

§11.1 The Definite Determiner

While Pine lacks a true definite article, it does have a ubiquitous definite determiner, mi Ø įo/(n)a/(n)ỉ. While it does serve in many ways a similar function as the English definite article ‘the’, it must also appear in a variety of contexts where a definite article would not necessarily be expected in English. This is due to the fact that the definite determiner must appear in certain cases, but not to mark definiteness.

Namely, whenever an object phrase contains a noun and comes directly before a subject phrase which also contains a noun, the subject noun phrase must be found with the definite determiner, regardless of whether it is perceived as definite or indefinite. This is because Pine forbids an object and subject noun phrase from appearing sequentially. For example, the phrases ‘the man sees the woman’ or ‘a man sees a woman’ or ‘the man sees a woman’ or ‘a man sees the women’ are all identical in Pine:

In the first phrase, tṇeget mi (o)tṡidnen įaktson įo sakvin, the object phrase is found with the definit e determiner as it contains a restrictive relative clause, which is most commonly introduced by the determiner, and as such the definiteness of the object phrase is not the primary function of the determiner, but a definite reading is not only possible but quite natural.

In the second phrase, tṇeget (o)tṡidnen įaktson mi sakvin įo, the object phrase contains a restrictive relative clause which lacks the definite determiner, which means the object phrase is obligately indefinite, while the subject phrase must be found with the definite determiner due to the obligate subject definition principle, and as such can be understood to either both definite or indefinite.

In the third phrase, tṇeget mi (o)tṡidnen įaktson įo mi sakvin įo both the object phrase and the subject phrase contain the definite determiner, and the most natural reading would be that both are definite, as there is no grammatical requirement for the definite determiner in the subject phrase (since the object noun phrase is separated from the subject noun phrase by an independent pronoun, thus not violating the obligate subject definition principle). However, an indefinite object phrase reading is also possible.

Notice that in all cases, the third-person obviate pronoun (o-) is facultative, as it is clear from the context that the subject is the head of the determiner phrase.

In many cases, definiteness is not marked at all in Pine. It is often secondary to other functions of the definite determiner, and the absence of a definite determiner does not signify the absence of a definite reading. In most cases, true definiteness is not overtly marked outside of the subject phrase.

§11.1.1 Pronouns as Determiners

Independent pronouns preceding the noun or phrase are often used as determiners, for example a ṇuokku ‘the tree’ or įo sakvin ‘the man’. This use of independent pronouns as determiners is less definite than when using mi, and is often used in discourse when a determinate noun or phrase refers back to something already mentioned, or to indicate continued determinateness at a narrative-level. For example:

§11.2 Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners correspond to the demonstrative pronouns, and like them they have three levels of deixis: proximal, medial and distal. Demonstrative determiners are formed by an independent pronoun, the noun phrase and the same deictic clitics as demonstrative pronouns.

As with demonstrative pronouns, proximal and demonstrative determiners refer to something closer to the speaker while medial deixis is used for proximity to the addressee. Distal demonstrative determiners have both a true distal meaning, used for things that are distant to both the addressee and the speaker, but they also serve a prerelative function. It is also the only available deixis for the third-person obviate, in which case true deixis is lost – a third-person obviate distal demonstrative determiner has no inherent deictic reference, įo sakvin ba can be ‘this man’ or ‘that man’, as deixis is secondary to obviation in this case, as obviation generally implies a distal deixis. Note that an obviate verb argument does not automatically require an obviate-distal deixis for the demonstrative determiner, but it is more common when the proximate argument has medial deixis.

Demonstrative determiners of type also exist, either by adding laggi directly following the independent pronoun, or with a special form in -(i)llat or -kinot. The forms įokinot and (n)akinot (rarely nỏkinot) have corresponding shorter forms in įokot and (n)akot (and nỏkot), especially in the eastern dialects.

In western dialects, the -llat and -kinot suffixes may instead be found on the hyphenated deictic clitic:

įo/(n)a/nỏ Ø-t dellat/-nįillat/-ballat

įo/(n)a/nỏ Ø-t dekinot/-nįikinot/-bakinot

uske-t tġva titattat duġġot ỉ niṡkegi-t ba, namegi kįasƛet ƛemppas ỉ

uski-_0 hf--a titattat t-ug-gu-t ii/ nicki-gi_0 p-a, nami-gi kjasTi-t li-mp-at ni-i-s ii/

[ˈʊsːkɛx ͜ xʷɑ tɪˈtaʰtat ˈdʊɣːɔh iː ˈnɪʃːkɛːgɪb ͜ bɑ ˈnɑːmɛːgɪ ˈcasːt͡ɬɛt ˈt͡ɬɛmːpas iː]

usket–t tġa t-i-taθ-at duġġ=ot ỉ niṡki-Ø-gi–t ba nam-egi kįasƛ=et t-lemb-vas ỉ

often part 3a.ag-kin-end.up-nloc.prs.pl furthest.back.illat pron.3a.pl person-act-pl dem.dist which-act.pl quickly

3a.ag-work-nloc.hyp.pl pron.3a.pl

‘the people who work fast often finish last’

§11.3 Numeral Determiners: One to Ten

Numerals from one to ten can function as determiners in Pine when used to modify a head noun. Numeral determiners from one until ten have shorter forms than independent numeral. As with other determiners, the head noun is followed by independent pronouns. Numerals greater than one appear in the plural, while the numeral determiner one uses the singular except with obligate plural nouns. Non-determiner numerals above one have a singular asematic form but a plural declension.

Numeral determiner clauses can contain another embedded determiner clause, for example kủt ỉ ṇuokkogi-t de ỉ ‘these two trees’, or tġeůts kuoka nỉktṡungit ỉ ‘from three other people’. It is equally acceptable to reverse the position of the outer and inner determiner, for example ỉ kủt ṇuokkogi-t de nỉ ‘these two trees’. Which ever determiner comes first is more emphasised, such that ỉ kủt ṇuokkogi-t de nỉ can be read as ‘these two trees’ (and not those), while kủt ỉ ṇuokkogi-t de nỉ is ‘these two trees’ (and not three)’. Generally speaking, the more neutral reading has numerals as the inner determiner.

Some speakers use the special numeral determiner ỏt instead of mįa or mis (which is quite archaic) when counting people, for example: mįa ṇuokku na va ỏt ỉski įo ‘one tree and one woman’. The determiner ỏt is considered more polite, but it is not commonly heard in relaxed or colloquial speech. In poetic or very formal language, ỏ(t)- can be added before numeral determiners when counting people, for example ỏkkủt ummakki nỉ ‘two mothers’, but such numeral determiners are becoming increasingly rare.

§11.3.1 Numeral Determiners Above Ten: Traditional & Modern Counting

When counting things, numerals above ten are expressed as a function of a numeral determiner from one to ten. For numbers between 11 and 19, Pine uses nanets~nana va followed by a numeral determiner phrase. Both the head noun of the determiner phrase and nanets~nana are declined. Some speakers have fused nanets~nana and va into nanettsa~nanna.

For numbers between 20 and 90, the head of the determiner phrase is the word na(ne)kki~nanogi~nanot ‘tens’, followed by the noun in the sematic. Increments within the numbers 20 and 90 are indicated by va followed by a second determiner phrase whose independent pronoun agrees with the latter determiner phrase’s head noun, for example kủt nakki va mįa ṇuokku na ‘21 trees’.

The same logic applies to numbers from 100 and above. The numbers tapi ‘hundred’ and dalit ‘thousand’ are used as true numerals but as numeral determiners if the number is not exactly 100 or 1000. For larger numbers, the conjunction va is usually only found before the very last element. Usually only the last numeral, na(ne)kki~nanogi~nanot, is declined, although it is also acceptable and sometimes considered more correct to decline all numerals. In longer numerals, the plural forms of tapi and dalit are often shortened to tapet and dalet.

§11.4 Indefinite Determiners

Indefinite determiners add information about the noun phrase and correspond to the indefinite pronouns. In addition to each indefinite pronoun having a corresponding indefinite determiner, reciprocal pronouns also have determiner forms which function as possessive determiners. The independent pronouns come at the end of the noun phrase, especially genitive complements to the head, for example mỉgvai na ƛỉkko-t de ṡimma neyggi na ‘the name of each and every lake of this area’, not *mỉgvai na ƛỉkko-t de ṡimma na neyggi, although one can also say na ƛỉkko-t de mỉgvai ṡimma neyggi na. Pine tends to want to contain the whole noun phrase within the determiner clause, such that mỉgvai na ƛỉkko-t de ṡimma neyggi na is often preferred. When a determiner introduces a clause, restrictive relative clauses are usually not introduced by mi. For example, mi dessit tikṇen niṡki įo ‘the person that lives around here’ becomes gvai dessit tikṇen niṡki įo ‘every person that lives here’, not *gvai mi dessit tikṇen niṡki įo.

§11.4.1 Free Determiner Clauses

Determiners most often have a nouns or noun phrases as their head. When the head is a clause rather than a noun, the structure is a free determiner clause. These cannot have pronouns as heads. For example, ‘any of us’ cannot be expressed by *ỏha ṇivit ỉ, as this results in two consecutive independent pronouns. Instead, indefinite pronouns are used with possessive affixes, such that ‘any of us’ is expressed with ỏhadaddas ‘anyone’ and pi-Ø-otṡin, or pỏhadaddasotṡin ‘any(one) of us’. Pine often favours circumlocutions using free determiner clauses instead of a noun. Unlike bound determiners, which have a head noun, free determiners must carry morphosyntactic information otherwise found in the noun in their independent pronoun, such that it is declined for its function in the phrase. Free determiner clauses can also involve the definite determiner mi, which often serve to replace words or may correspond to words in English that are may or may not exist in Pine, but whose free determiner form is favoured in Pine, for example mi niįįuṡ a ‘that which will be’ is often used instead of the word midallįi ‘future’. Unlike indefinite pronouns, the verbal referent of free determiner clauses agrees with the independent pronoun, although mi Ø mana clauses more often than not display subject discongruity and have a third-person inanimate subject in the hyponomous verb instead of the expected fourth-person subject.

Free determiner clauses can often correspond to postpositive adjectives in English, in which case the meaning of the indefinite determiner becomes that of its pronominal form, for example ga-t ḥikven a ‘something good’.

§11.4.2 List of Determiners & Examples

Examples of determiners in Pine are given here:

na nả-t ke pikkut kuokoillat tsukṇi na?

na naa_0 ki- pikkut kaa-ku-aillat c-ukN-i na?

[nɑ ˈnæːk ͜ kɛ ˈpɪʰkʊt ˈkuʊ̯kɑɪ̯lːat ˈt͡sʊkːŋ̊ɪ nɑː]

na nả–t ke pi=kkut kuoka=illat tsukṇi-Ø na

interr cop.nloc.prs interr pron.2.com other.kind knife-act pron.3i

‘do you have another kind of knife?’