The Definite Article Regarded as Marker of Accessibility between Mental Spaces
The Definite Article Regarded as Marker of Accessibility between Mental Spaces

Summary/Abstract: Studies on articles mainly highlight two roles of the definite article: marking familiarity and unique identifiability. Basing on Fauconnier’s mental space theory, Epstein argues that for a full interpretation of a noun phrase premodified by a definite article, some additional information is needed, beyond what is conveyed by the noun phrase itself. The definite article signals that the knowledge required for inter preting the noun phrase is accessible somewhere in the network of mental spaces. The present paper focuses on the way connections between mental spaces are constructed when an entity enters the discourse in the opening paragraphs of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, as well as on the role the definite article plays in this process.

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