A cross-categorial definite determiner: Evidence from Ga (Kwa)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the growing body of evidence that in a cross-linguistic perspective there are definite descriptions of categories other than NPs. Based on novel data from Ga, an under-researched language spoken in Ghana, the paper argues that the definite determiner lE marks overtly familiarity and uniqueness in both the nominal and the verbal domain. When lE attaches to the VP, it marks an event as definite. The paper shows that definiteness in the verbal domain not only exists but also has the same properties as in the nominal domain, pointing to further parallelism between both.