``the''

Jerry R. Hobbs
Artificial Intelligence Center
SRI International
Menlo Park, California 94025
USA
hobbs@ai.sri.com

Abstract:

The definite determiner ``the'' conveys a relation between the entity referred to by the noun phrase and the description provided by the noun phrase, and says that the entity is uniquely mutually identifiable in context by the speaker and hearer by virtue of that descripiton. This characterization splits into six different cases. Several hundred examples of definite noun phrases in a diverse corpus were analyzed from this perspective.