• Language and Information
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• v.1
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• pp.227-276
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• 1997

There has been no nuanimous analysis of specific indefinites. It is still disputed even whether specificity is a matter of semantics of pragmatics. In this paper, I introduce some properties of specific indefinites, and explain them based on the meaning of specificity. Specificity intuitively means that the speaker or someone else in the context has some individual in mind, which is generally accepted among liguistics. The main issue is how to represent the meaning of 'have-in-mind'. I review some philosophical discusstions of cognitive contact and show that when the use of an expression involves 'have-in-mind', the expression is rigid designator in the belief of the agent who has an individual in mind. in the use of a specific indefinite, this applies only to the information state of the agent of 'have-in-mind'. To represent this asymmetry, I propose a new theory of dynamic semantics, in which a common ground consists of multiple information states, as many as the number of the participants in a conversation. Moreover, each information state is structured as a set of epistemic alternatives, which is a set of possible information states of a participant in the context. Based on this semantics, the properties of specific indefinites are explained.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.81-100
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• 2001

In this paper I review previous analyses of specific indefinites, and propose a new analysis. The main claim is that a specific indefinite presupposes that an agent, a speaker in general, has in mind an individual which satisfies the descriptive content. I provide evidence for the ambiguity view of specificity. First, I show that a specific indefinite triggers a pre- supposition. Second, I show that a specific indefinite is a strong quantifier while a nonspecific is a weak one. Finally, I discuss different behaviors of specific and nonspecific indefinites in anaphora.

• Language and Information
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.67-86
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• 2007

The semantic literature on definiteness and specificity shows that the former is relatively an established notion, whereas the latter is still a vague notion that needs to be more clarified and confirmed. Given this, Ionin (2006) argues for the reality of specificity based on the informal use of this. She proposes this in spoken English as a specificity marker which has a semantic feature indicating "peaker intent to refer" and "noteworthiness." She also provides as evidence the results of some crosslinguistics studies including an L2 acquisition study with both L1-Russian and L1-Korean L2-English learners. However, this paper will argue that the informal use of this does not seem to mark specificity according to Ionin's definition of specificity. It will also be argued that the L2 acquisition study cannot be used as evidence for the reality of specificity. Based on these arguments, this paper will try to redefine specificity, based on the notions of existence and uniqueness.

• Language and Information
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.77-93
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• 2008

This paper examines a condition that licenses distributivity. Choe (1987) and Link (1998) have proposed an indefiniteness condition on distributivity. However, detecting counter-examples, Zimmermann (2002) has argued for a non-specificity condition. This paper primarily revises the indefiniteness/non-specificity condition. Observing that the systematic class of the exceptions belongs to weak definites proposed by Poesio (1994), I claim that the property that constrains distributivity is non-strong-definiteness. Based on Landman (2000), I further explain the non-strong-definiteness condition and argue that the condition does not need to be imposed on the grammar independently. The new condition naturally accounts for Spector's (2003) scopal asymmetry. Even more, defining donkey pronouns as weak definites, I cope with various properties of donkey sentences.

• Language and Information
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.23-47
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• 2007

In this paper I discuss two markers for specificity, etten and han, in Korean. First, I discuss their structural properties and claim that etten is a determiner, and han is a numeral preceded by an implicit existential quantifier. Then I discuss four uses of etten and two uses of han, and show when they are used as specificity markers. There are various properties of the two specificity markers, some of which they have in common. I take them as properties of specificity markers in general. The properties only one of them has are taken to come from the original meanings of the two morphemes. I claim that specific indefinites range over individual concepts, which lead to the properties they have in common.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.251-268
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• 2001

We arrived at the following conclusion after we have studied crohn's disease through the literatures of western and oriental medicine. 1. Crohn's disease has a characteristic of granulomatous necrosis and cicatricial inflammation which is called by segmental enteritis, granulomatous enteritis. This falls under the category of "Diarrhea", "Dysentery" and is similar to "small intestinal diarrhea", "acute temesmus", "splenic diarrhea" in oriental medicine. 2. In western medicine, the cause of crohn's disease indefinites, but it is presumed immunological unbalance of alimentary canal. In oriental medicine, it is summarized as the abnormal ascending and descending circulation of stomach and splenic energies, the hepatic stagnation, being the lower part of cleaning qi by exogenous disease, dyspeptic convulsion. 3. The presenting symptoms of crohn's disease are intermittent chronic diarrhea, fever, weight loss, abdominal spastic pain or abdominal discomfort. When anyone has a abdominal mass, a rectal abcess, and a rectal constriction by physical examination, we can doubt crohn's disease. 4. The methods of western medical treatment are a suppression of intestinal toxic contents and inflammatory mediator, a supply of nutritive substanceus to intestinal epithelial cell. Oriental medical treatments of these are "inducing diuresis", "warming kidney to reinforce yang", "nourishing qi to invigorate spleen", "eliminatin dampness by cooling" according to syndrome differentiations. As mentioned above, we can confirm possibility of oriental medical treatment that induces recovery of immunologic control function and we need advanced experiment, study, and clinical approach.