Telic definites and their prepositions : French Vs Serbian Vs Bulgarian Paris, June 2012.
Tijana Asic Francis Corblin
1. Introduction
This talk is about expressing the equivalents of the French weak definities in Serbian and Bulgarian.
We adopt as a starting point the approach of Corblin (2011) based on three ingredients:
- the French definite of this construction is a regular associative (Hawkins 1978) or functional (Löbner 1985) definite;
- the functional reading of the head-noun is based on the telic qualia (Pustejovsky 1995)of this noun;
- once admitted that the associated function takes its argument in his own sentence, the dynamic properties of the NP can be explained.
The link between the interpretation of these WD and the telic qualia of their lexical head is explicitly made in Borillo (1983) for French, and Stvan (1998) for English.
First, we introduce the great lines of this approach on French data, then we will turn to Serbian data with two main concerns.
1. Checking whether comparable Serbian constructions can be analyzed as involving a definite NP, or should be best analyzed as involving a true bare singular.
2. Comparing the lexical constraints on the emergence of telic readings, especially the constraints on the selection of the preposition.
2. Telic definites in Serbian
The case of Serbian is a good case for testing the robustness for at least two reasons:
Serbian has no definite article.
Serbian has a system of spatial preposition more complex than French : it has no equivalent of the so-called “colorless preposition à” (Asic, 2008), selects different prepositions for dynamic and static localizations, and select different spatial prepositions depending of the representation of the site.
Typical cases of telic readings in Serbian are exemplified in the following examples:
(1) Ici na more/ plazu/fakultet/pijacu/planinu/selo Go on sea/ beach/ faculty/market/mountain/village (2) Biti na moru/planini/fakultetu/pijaci/planini/selu Be on sea/ beach/ faculty/market/mountain/village
(3) Biti u školi/prodavnici/ bolnici/ hotelu/ crkvi/ parku/ bioskopu/pozorištu/zatvoru1
Be in school/shop/ hospital/hotel/ church/park/ cinema/ theatre/ prison
(4) Otici u školu/prodavnicu/ bolnicu/ hotel/ crkvu/ park/ bioskop/pozorište/zatvor Go in school/shop/ hospital/hotel/ church/park/ cinema/ theatre
They combine a generic localization verb (Ici and biti) with bare singular Nouns (fakultet, školi) and they can be found either with the prepositions na or the preposition u .When used with a human subject, they do have the telic interpretation (e. g. to go to school = to be a school girl/boy).
2.1 The bare Noun of Serbian telic readings is a functional definite NP.
The nominal being a bare noun, to analyse it as a generic NP, or even as some special case of incorporation or as an idiomatic construction might seem even less controversial than for the corresponding cases in French1. But, as for French (see Corblin 2011) the dynamic properties of this nominal element show that it behaves as a functional definite (it allows modification, anaphora, demonstratives, and the equivalent of "lequel"), and the telic interpretation is preserved even in case the definite NP is specific :
(5) Dusan ide u najbolju skolu u nasem kraju.
Dusan goes in best school in our district Dusan attends the best school in our district.
Anaphora can refer back to the spatial entity underlying the telic reading (6) Dusan je u skoli. Srecom ona nije daleko odavde.
Dusan is in school Fortunately she isn t far here from Dusan is in school. Fortunately, it is not far from here.
Our intuition about the nature of bare nouns in Serbia is confirmed by the fact that in general, they can be interpreted as functional definiteness in any other context2:
(7) Postar mi je doneo tri pisma.
The postman brought me three letters.
(8) Konsultovao sam doktora.
I have consulted the / my doctor.
1 The author of this paper actually heard a following statement, used as a kind of pun: Moj muz je u zatvoru, ali ustvari nije u zatvoru (My husband is in jail but actually he is not in jail). The lady wanted to say that her husband works in a prison, so he is physically there but he is not imprisoned.
2See also the following 2 different interpretations of the bare nominals in Serbian:
U banji je danas hladno = It is cold in the spa today. (a particular spa in question)
+ a title in a newspaper: U banji ove godine 10000 penzionera. = 10000 pensioners have been visiting spa this year. – different spas, of course
We see no reason then, not to analyse the nominal element of telic readings in Serbian s a true functional definite NP.In other words, although Serbian uses formally a bare singular, it should be analyzed as closer to the French and English telic definites than to the English bare singular.
2.2 Telic readings occur only with definite functional NPs
If the head noun is modified with indefinite adjectives3(jedan, neki) or withdemonstratives the reading becomes spatial. Compare (26) with (27):
(9) Dusan je otisao na fakultet. Danas ima puno casova.
Dusan AUX gone on university Today has many hours Dusan went to university. He has lots of classes today.
(10) Dusan je otisao na jedan/taj fakultet. Tamo ce da prodaje knjige.
Dusan AUX gone ono one/that faculty There will to send books Dusan went to the faculty. He will sell books there.
This difference also accounts for the fact that while in Serbian the sentence given in (28) is natural the example (29) is quite odd:
(11) AKo budes nastavio da kasljes, ici ces u bolnicu.
If AUX continue that cough go will in hospital If you continue to cough you will go to hospital.
(12) ? AKo budes nastavio da kasljes, ici ces u jednu/neku bolnicu.
If AUX continue that cough go will in one / a hospital If you continue to cough you will go to a certain hospital.
In (11) the speaker is actually telling the hearer that he will need a hospital treatment, while in (12) he is talking about a particular hospital. Naturally (29) can be improved if we modify a noun with an adjective stressing that the hospital in question is specialised for pulmonary problems:
(13) AKo budes nastavio da kasljes, ici ces u jednu specijalnu plucnu bolnicu.
If AUX continue that cough go will in one special pulmonary hospital If you continue to cough you will go to a special pulmonary hospital.
It should be noted that if in case of an anaphoric use of the NP (for the bare noun
interpretation in Serbian see Stanojevic 2010), only a spatial reading is accessible ( see the above discussion on sloppy readings) :
(14) Jovan danas ide na jedan fakultet da popravi grejanje .
Today Jovan is going to a certain university faculty to fix the heating (later)
- Gde je on sada?
3Words like jedan, neki, dva, tri, nekoliko indicate that the referent of NP is not known to the hearer. The semantics of the indefinite adjectives in Serbian is close to the semantics of indefinite determiners in French (un, des, plusieurs, quelques, trois etc.).
Where is he now ? Otišao je na fakultet.
He went to the faculty..
With nouns referring to locations to which social activities are not typically associated the reading is normally spatial.
(15) Biti na jezeru/ livadi/proplanku/ steni/Novom Beogradu/ tavanu To be on lake/ field/ glade/ rock/New Belgrade/ attic
It should be mentioned that na is also used with nouns referring to activities (morphologically derived from verbs) and with nouns referring to typical events (temporal entities that last in time)
(16) Ići na pecanje / plivanje /crtanje.
Go on fiching / swimming/drawing (17) Ici na ručak / sastanak / rođendan.
Go on lunch/meeting/birthday
However if a noun representing an activity is modified with an indefinite adjective, the NP in question obtains a different interpretation. Compare:
(18) ?Idem na ručak ali neću nista jesti.
Go on lunch but won t nothing eat
I am going to have lunch but I won t eat anything.
(19) Idem na neki ručak, ali neću ništa jesti (imam gastroenteritis).
Go on certain lunch but won t nothing eat
I m gong to a lunch but I won t eat anything. I have a gastroenteritis.
In 19) the speaker states that he will attend a social event – a lunch, which does not necessarily mean that he will eat.
Let us consider now the following sentences:
(20) ? Hirurg je otisao na neku/jednu operaciju.
Surgeon is gone on a operation The surgeon went to an operation.
21) ?Balerina je otisla na neku/jednu probu Ballet dancer is gone on a rehearsal The ballet dancer went for a rehearsal.
Their strangeness is the consequence of the existence of indefinite adjective neki/jedan.
Namely, since operations and rehearsals are parts of everyday surgeon’s / ballet dancer’s life, it is unnatural to introduce them as particular occasions, unless we want to stress that it is a truly special event:
22) Hirurg je otisao na jednu tesku operaciju.
Surgeon is gone on one difficult operation The surgeon went to a difficult operation.
As a conclusion, we can state that only functional definites convey the telic reading in Serbain Note that the same rule (bare noun – telic reading, indefinite adjective – spatial reading) is valid for some other preposition, like kod (to, chez):
23) Ceca je otisla kod frizera.
Ceca is gone to hair dresser
Ceca went to a hair dresser (for a hair cut etc)
24) Ceca je otisla kod jednog frizera da ga intervjuise Ceca is gone to one hair dresser that him interview Ceca went to a hair dresser to interview him.
2.3 Telic readings and the selection of the preposition : na and u
As for their spatial usage, na denotes a topological relation of weak contact between a figure and a ground (knjiga je NA stolu – the book is on the table) while the carrier/carried relation often presented in this relation is usually pragmatically inferred (Asic, 2008).
The basic semantics of the preposition u is the mereological relation of inclusion by which a figure is totally (prsten je u kutuji – the ring is in the box) or partly (cvece je u vazi – theflowers are in the vase) included in (the hole) in the ground.
Roughly speaking, na is used for loci without definite boundaries (like fields and markets), and u for loci confined within strict boundaries (like buildings). Serbian data shows that the preposition selected for locus conveys telic readings if the N has a telic qualia, and that, as a rule, only this preposition can convey a telic reading.
Only some very rare nouns can be used with both prepositions, for instanceselo (village) and more (sea)and its similars (nouns refering to water surface/containers) jezero (lake), reka (river), bazen (swiming pool).
In all these cases NA is telic and with U we have the idea that the subjet is going INTO the water. However, with bara (pond), only U can be used, for there is no possible telic function.
25) Otisao je NA more, reku, jezero, bazen, baru He went to sea side, river, lake, swiming pool, pond 26) Otisao je U more, reku, jezero, bazen, *baru
He went into the sea , river, lake, swiming pool, pond
The case of selo (village) represents quite an interesting situation. When na is used the reading is telic: selo is interpreted as a countryside designated for holiday and relaxation.
Interestingly the sentence (43) could never be used if the subject lives and works in a village (for him it would be apsurd to rest in the countryside):
27) Aleksa je otisao na selo.
Aleksa went to the countryside.
The same is valid if there is an adverbial adjunct in the sentence clearly stating that the reason for going to selo is not for holiday. Only u can be used:
28) Otisao je u / *na selo po drva He went to the village to fetch wood.
Actually in Serbian na selo is used as a phraseologism for denoting the holidays spent at the countryside (maybe it could designate the life style too). That is why it does not admit possesives, demonstratives, indefinite adjectives and appositions:
29) Otisao je U /* NA nase/to/jedno selo.
Gone is In on our/this/one village 30) Otisao je U / * NA selo Dobracu.
Went is in/on village Dobraca
One more thing : the construction na selo is unlike the construction given in the example 18 (except for na more) is only telic by nature : in other words it does not have the spatial interpretation. Thus, in this case the word selo cannot be replaces by anaphoric pronoun : 31) Dusan je otisao na selo. *Ono se nalazi blizu Kragujevca.
Dusan is gone on village it poss finds next to Kragujevac Dusan went to countryside. It is situated in the vicinity of Kragujevac.
Finally (with selo) if a subject is inanimate, you are obliged to use U (this is logical, for a telic relation cannot be inferred)
32) Kompjuter je otisao u selo.
Computer is gone in village
This sentence means that a village got a computer.
Interestingly, there is no such an opposition for a noun grad (town), with which only u can be used. Note that u grad can have a telic interpretation:
33) Ceca je otisla u grad.
Ceca is gone in town
It means that she went in town either to have fun (especially if it is uttered in the evening), or because she has some everyday obligations (to pay the bills, go to the bank etc)
Our attention was drawn by a very interesting fact. While in a standard Serbian one would use the preposition u with the noun stan (flat), with the argotic variant of the same word gajba( case) the preposition na is used.
34) Otisao je u stan / na gajbu Went is in flat/ on case He went to his crib.
In the corpus we investigated we could not find the word gajba with neki, indefinite adjectives!
However if we replace a neutral verb to go with a more specific we get an acceptable sentence4:
35) Zbrisao je na NEKU gajbu Ran away is on some crate.
He ran away to someone s flat.
All in all we can conclude that with nouns that accept either na or u, the usage of indefinite adjectives favours the spatial reading! However, with nouns that accept both na and u, it is (almost) impossible to use indefinite adjectives with na – this preposition being a strong marker of a specific telic reading!
Note that there are other spatial prepositions in Serbian encoding more specific spatial indications like po, which can never convey telic reading, such as po (over – it actually signalises that the figure is either continuous by nature or that it is moving on the ground5 (see Asic, 2008).
Hence while in the example 36) the spatial interpretation is enriched with the social activity meaning, the reading of 37) is purely spatial:
36) Dusan ide na plazu.
Dusan goes on beach
Dusan is going to the beach.
37) Dusan ide po plazi Dusan goes over beach
Dusan is walking all over the beach.
4 One can also hear in serbian slang : Otisao je gajbi, where instead of prepositions the locative case is used.
This usage is probably motivated by the locative expression: otici kuci (to go home). However with other nouns for locations it is not possible!
5 Knjiga je na stolu.
Book is on table A book is on the table.
Brasno je svuda po stolu.
Flour is everywhere over table The flour is allover the table.
Mis trci po stolu.
Mouse runs over table
A mouse is running on the table.
2.4 The preposition U, na and the natural phenomena
Interestingly, in Serbian, the po – na – u opposition exists in the non-spatial domain: it is used on the one hand, to express the distinction between spatially dynamic and spatially static verbs, and on the other, to express the difference between effective and non-effective natural phenomena. Let us define these notions. Spatially dynamic verbs denote the activities or events that involve a linear movement in space (a displacement), like running or walking.
In the case of spatially static verbs no such movement exists: examples of this are sleeping or crying.
As for natural phenomena (Ivić: 1995), they are effective if we consider them as acting on us or changing our environment—that is, if they are intrinsically dynamic, like rain, which is falling or the sun, which is shining or wind, which is blowing. The non-effective natural phenomena do not act; they simply depict physical characteristics of the environment in which an activity is taking place. Examples of the latter are shadow, shade, darkness, light.
The rules that emerged from my observation of a representative number of examples in Serbian are:
I) With spatially dynamic verbs, po is used in both instances, for effective and non- effective natural phenomena:
38) Ted trči po suncu.
Ted runs over sun.
‘Ted is running in the sun.’
39) Ted hoda po hladu velikog baobab drveta.
Ted is walking over shade large baobab tree (gen. case).
‘Ted is walking in the shade of the large baobab tree.’
IIa) With spatially static verbs, na is used only with the effective phenomena:
40) Marvin spava na suncu.
Marvin sleeps on sun.
‘Marvin is sleeping in the sun.’
IIb) However, with the non-effective phenomena, u is obligatory:
41) Marvin spava u hladu velikog baobab drveta.
Marvin is sleeping in shade large baobab tree (gen. case).
‘Marvin is sleeping in the shade of the large baobab tree.’
Telic and true agentive prepositions
There are some specific prepositions in Serbian (voir Ašić et Stanojević, 2008.) that do not only convey the information about the figure position but also express the existence of the active relation between the figure (it has to be animate – this explains the unacceptability of 46) and 47) and ground:
(42) Dušan je pred loptom. Sprema se da je šutne.
Dusan is in front of the ball. He is about to shoot it.
(43) Pas je pred koskom. Sad će da je smaže The dog is in front of the bone. It will devour it.
(44) Mačka je pred činijom mleka. Celu će da je iskapi.
The cat is in front of the bowl of milk. It will drink it to the last drop.
(45) Dusan je pred planinom koju zeli da osvoji.
Dusan is in front of the mountain that he wants to conquer.
(46) *Bicikl je pred kosilicom.
The bike is in front of a lawnmower (47) *Upaljač je pred budilnikom.
The lighter is in front of the alarm clock.
The preposition pred can alternate with the purely spatial preposition ispred4. The choice of pred signalises that there is a kind of intentional relation between a figure and a ground, while the choice of ispred states that the relation is only spatial6:
(48) Dušan je ispred Maneove slike. Zeli da ga fotografisem.
Dusan is in front Manet s painting. Wants that it take a photo
Dusan is in front of a Manet s painting. He wants me to take a photo of him.
(49)Dušan je pred Maneoovom slikom. Divi se nijansama narandzaste boje.
Dusan is in front Manet s painting. Admires poss nuances orange colour
Dusan is in front of a Manet s painting. He is admiring nuances of the orange colour.
Similarly, the preposition za does not only designate a contact between a figure and a ground but also states that the (obligatory) animate subject is performing an activity linked to the (obligatory inanimate and concrete) ground:
50) Ema je za klavirom. Divno svira Ema is ZA piano. Wonderfully plays
Ema is at the piano. She is playing in a wonderful way.
51) Melanija je na klaviru. Pašće!
Melanija is on piano. She will fall ! Melania is on the piano. She will fall!
52) Dusan je za stolom. Gladan je.
Dusan is ZA table. Hungre is Dusan is at the table. He is hungry.
53) Torta je na stolu.
Cake is on table.
The cake is on the table.
6 Morphologically these two prepositions are connected: ispred = prefix IZ + pred
Naturally the subject here has to be animate and active:
54) *Knjiga je za klavirom Book is za piano
55) *Dusan je za televizorom.
Dusan is za television.
It is important to emphasize that the usage of indefinite adjective does not cancel the telic reading here:
(56) Dušan je pred jednom slikom. Divi se nijansama narandzaste boje.
Dusan is in front one painting. Admires poss nuances orange colour
Dusan is in front of a Manet s painting. He is adminirng nuances of the orange colour.
(57) Ema je za jednim klavirom. Divno svira Ema is ZA one piano. Wonderfully plays
Ema is at the piano. She is playing in a wonderful way.
The equivalents of the telic and other constructions in Bulgarian
Among Slavic languages, the exception to the absence of the definite article is found in Bulgarian and Macedonian. This is one of the consequences of a linguistic contact7 with Greek, a non-Slavic Indo-European language. In Greek the definite article, agreeing in gender, case, and number with the noun, must be used in noun phrases except with abstract nouns (for example: το βιβλίο = the book). One more characteristic of Greek is relevant here: in this language determiners - for example possessives - are usually post- posed (Foundalis: 1996). Thus, for my book one says: το βιβλίο μου (the book my).
In Bulgarian - the language that interests us here - there is a gender – and - number sensitive post-positioned definite article: - (j)a / ằt for masculine sg.: stol-a /-ằt (the table), -ta for feminine sg.: zena-ta (the woman), -to for neuter sg.: slằnce-to (the sun)). For plural we have -te for masculine (tavani-te = the ceilings) and feminine (radosti-te = the joys) and -ta for neuter (lica-ta = the faces). There is no equivalent, for example, to the English indefinite article or the French partitive article, but it possible in some cases to use the forms of the cardinal numeral for one (edin, edna, edno) (see Friedman: 1973).
It should be stressed here that the definite article is not obligatory with nouns:
a) Имам нужда от почивка.
Imam nuzda ot pocivka Have need from rest I need to rest.
b) Чета книга.
Ceta kniga Reads book
I am reading a book.
HERE INDEF ARTIC IN FR AND ENGL
c) Гледам телевизия.
Gledam televizija Watch television I m watching tv.
DEF ART IN FRENC . NO ART IN ENGL
Normally, the definite article in Bulgarian signals that the entity in question is already known to the speaker and listener (the theme), while its absence marks the new information (the rheme). But in spoken language (Dyer: 1993) things are much more complicated; namely nouns that are parts of the rhemes in some specific he sentence can be accompanied by the definite article.
7 About a phenomenom of languages in contact, forming the so-called Sprachbunds
(“linguistic leagues”) and especially about the Balkan Sprachbund (to which belong Greek, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Albanian, Romanian and some other languages) see Dyer, 2001. The members of a Sprachbund share a number of linguistic features owing to a significant period of inter-language contact and geographic proximity.
OBSERVATIONS ON BULGARIAN DATA We have so far observed two tendencies in Bulgarian :
I) with bare nouns we get a telic reading (if a context and qualia structure of a noun allow it), but in general abstract readings appear without article) and with definite article the reading is spatial
II) NA (on) is (except for unambiguous cases of contact-support relation) is a marker of abstract readings, while V (in) is a marker of a pure spatial relation between a figure and a ground.
1) Душан е на училище.
Dusan e na učilište Dusan is on school D is at shool, he is a pupil
2) Душан е в училището. Там ще продава книги Dusan e v učilišteTO. Tam šte prodava knigi Dusan is in school THE there will sell books Dusan est dans ecole LE. La FUT vendre livres The second example does not at all imply that Dusan is a pupil.
The same opposition is valid for the word kino (cinema):
3) Отивам на кино Otivam na kino.
Go on cinema
I m going to the cinema.
4) Отивам в киното на ъгъла.
Otivam v kinoto na agala Go in cinema on corner
I m going to the cinema around the corner
However, the above mentioned NA – V distinction is apparently not a regular rule.
With Pazar (market) the preposition NA is used in both cases : 5) Иван е на пазар.
Ivan e na pazar Ivan is on market
Ivan is doing some shopping – not necessarily at the market 6) Иван е на пазара
Ivan e na pazara
Ivan is on market THE
Ivan is physically at the market.
The usage of NA in the example with a spatial reading is motivated by physical characteristics of the ground – a market in an open place, more a location than a container (unlike school witch is a real building).
The same is valid for plaza ( beach):
7) Иван е на плаж Ivan e na plaž Ivan is on beach
Ivan is sunbathing and enjoying other beach pleasures.
8) Иван е на плажа Ivan e na plaža Ivan is on beach
Ivan is at the beach. (for ex he went there to find a friend or to sell something) Naturally with inanimate subjects the definite article has to be used:
9) Кафенето е на плажа Kafeneto e na plaza
Coffee shop the is on beach the
The coffee shop is situated on the beach.
There are however some nouns that do not allow telic reading at all and hence have to be modified by a definite or indefinite article!
10) Душан отиде във факултета.
Dusan otide vav fakulteta Dusan go in faculty the Dusan went to the facutly building 11) Иван отиде в някакъв факултет Ivan otide v njakakav fakultet Ivan went in some faculty Ivan went to a faculty buidling 12) *Душан отиде във факултет.
Dusan otide vja fakulteta Dusan went in faculty
Unlike in Serbian the example given here above does not mean that Ivan is a student.
If we want to communicate this, we have to use the word universitet:
13) Иван oтиде в университет(а) Ivan otide v universitet(a)
Ivan went in university (the) Ivan went to study at university.
Interestingly, the presence or absence of the definite article does not change the meaning of the above quoted sentence. It is most likely because the semantic structure of universitet is such that it does not refer to a spatial object.
We have pointed out that some rare nouns in Serbian (such as village, sea) allow both prepositions and that these two combinations yield a difference in meaning. Similarly, in Bulgarian we have:
14) Алекса отиде на село.
Aleksa otide na selo Aleksa went on village Aleksa went to the countryside
The usage of NA favors the absence of article. The reading is obligatory telic:
With V the article has to be used and the reading is spatial:
15) Алекса отиде в селото.
Aleksa otide v seloTO Aleksa went in village THE Aleksa went to the village.
The article is omitted if we add the apposition (the village s name) but this is a general rule in Bulgarian:
16) Алекса отиде в село Драганово.
Aleksa otide v selo Draganovo The same is valid with more (sea)
17) Иван е на море Ivan e na more Ivan is on sea
Ivan went to the seaside (for holiday or work if this is contextually relevant, he can be a sailor)
18) Иван е в морето Ivan e v moreto Ivan is in sea the
Ivan is in the sea (in the water)
With inanimate subjects the article is required:
19) Корабът е в морето Korabat e v moreto
Boat is in sea A boat is on the sea +8
Jack Feuillet, Grammaire synchronique du bulgare, 1996, Paris, Institut d'études slaves Emplois de l'article défini - compléments circonstanciels - compléments spatiaux
"Il n'y a pas d'article en bulgare pour les compléments de lieu introduits par на lorsqu'ils ne désignent pas le bâtiment lui-même, mais l'endroit où a lieu le spectacle ou l'activité:
Отивам на кино, на театър, на цирк, на концерт, на училище, на работа "Je vais au cinéma, au théâtre, au cirque, au concert, à l'école, au travail". Cette règle est absolue avec на lorsque ce relateur n'a pas le sens de "sur":
Emplois de l'article défini - Lexies - Verbe+adjet:
En règle générale, le complément de lieu n'a pas d'article lorsque le sens spatial s'est effacé:
дойде ми на ум "il m'est venu à l'esprit" ; Рядко си идваха в отпуск войниците (Stanev)
"Rarement, les soldats partaient en permission"
It is very important to comprehend that a bare noun in the above analysed constructions is not semantically equivalent to a noun with indefinite article in French.
IMPORTANT: With indefinite adjectives in Bulgarian we get a spatial reading, just like with definite !
This might suggest that the definite article in Bulgarian is always STRONG and that bare noun interpretation is equivalent to a reading of a WEAK DEFINITE FUNCTIONAL ARTICLE in French!
Compare the situation in Bulgarian with the one in English ! (He goes to school. He went to the / a school to sell books)
What we can say is that in English in general we use the definite article for this telic readings (with a few exceptions, like go to school, bare noun), while in Bulgarian the rule is to use a bare noun for in telic constructions (with a few exceptions).
***
As for the equivalents of the serbian construction ici na rucak we have a possibility to use a bare noun or a noun with a definite article:
8 The NA – V opposition exist also with abstract nouns:
Иван е във ваканция Ivan e v vakancia Ivan is in THE holiday
Ivan took a break from job – school Иван е на ваканция
Ivan e na vakancia Ivaan is on holiday
Ivan went on holiday (took a trip somewhere)
THE SECOND EVOQUES ASSOTIONS OF TYPICAL THINGS WE DO WHEN WE TAKE A BREAK
20) Йован отиде на обяд.
Jovan otide na objad Jovan went on lunch Jovan went to have luch 21) Йован отиде на обяда.
Jovan otide na objadA Jovan went on lunch THE Jovan went to the lunch
Interestingly, the construction « na obed » is also use a temporal adverbial (we have the metonimical change of meaning by association), it means « at noon ».
22) Някой ходи ли днес до библиотеката? – Иван отиде на обяд.
Njakoj hodi li dnes do bibliotekata? Ivan otide na objad Did anyone go to the library today ? Ivan went at noon.
If obed is modified with indefinite adjective (edin obed) we, just like in Serbian, get the interpretation, to assist a lunch, no to go eat a lunch.
This is a typical case of a desematisation process in which the lexeme obed loses its original denotation and by metonymy become a temporal entity.
***
Note that in Bulgarian the preposition NA is also used in (also telic) constructions in which in Serbian the preposition KOD (by, chez) is used. If the speaker just wants to give the
information that he is going for a hair cut (or brushing etc) the definite article is omitted:
23) Отивам на фризьор.
Otovam na frizjor Go on hair dresser I m going to a hear dresser
If the speaker is talking about the precise hair dresser, the definite is needed:
24) Otivam pri moja frizjor Go to myTHE hear dresser I m going to my heardresser
THE EQUIVALENTS OF THE TRUE AGENTIVE PREPOSITIONS PRED / ZA
Bulgarian does not have special agentive prepositions (denoting that the subject has an active role in the process).In sentences in which in Serbian ZA is used we find the preposition NA:
The definite article is required:
25) Ема е на пианото. Свири прекрасно.
Ema e na pianoto. Sviri prekrasno Ema is on piano the. Plays beautifully Ema is at the piano.
26) Ема е на пиано. Свири прекрасно.
Ema e na piano. Sviri prekrasno Ema is on piano. Plays beautifully Ema atends piano classes.
So again, without article a noun loses its physical characteristics and the interpretation becomes abstract.
There is no opposition parallel to ISPRED – PRED : the Bulgarian only have a spatial preposition PRED that can, by contextual (pragmatic) enrichment obtain a telic interpretation in a sentence. Here the definite article is required:
27) Душан е пред топката. Готви се да я ритне.
Dusan e pred topkata. Gotvi se da ja ritne Dusan is in front of the ball. He will shoot it.
28) Кучето е пред кокала. Сега ще го излапа.
Kuceto e pred kokala. Sega če go izlapa The dog is in front of the bone. It will devour it.
29) Котката е пред чинийката с мляко. Ще го излочи (изпие) цялото.
Kotkata e pred činijkata s mleko. šte go izloči cjaloto.
The cat is in front of the bowl of milk. It will drink it to the last drop.
30) Душан е пред планината, която иска да покори.
Dusan e pred planinata, kojato iska da pokori
Dusan is in front of the mountain that he wants to conquer.
The proof that the same preposition is used for strictly spatial readings:
31) Жълтата кола е пред синята кола.
Žaltata kola e pred sinjata kola
The yellow car is in front of the blue car,
Spatial prepositions and temporal reading in Bulgarian
Just like in Serbian with natural phenomena spatial prepositions NA, V, PO are used. But the presence / absence of the definite article plays an important role in the interpretation of the sentence:
32) Marvin spi na slằnceTO.
Marvin sleeps on sun-the ‘Marvin is sleeping in the sun.’
33) Marvin spi na slằnce.
Marvin sleeps on sun
‘Marvin is sleeping during the day.’
(in Srbian we would say po danu)
34) Marvin plače v mrakA.
Marvin cries in darkness-the ‘Marvin is crying in the darkness.’
35) Marvin plače v mrak.
Marvin cries in darkness ‘Marvin is crying in the night.’
(in Srbian we would say po noci)
So, in case of the spatial reading (sentences with the definite article) the location in question is material and real (it can be felt or seen), not impalpable or abstract, like time.
Lacking the definite article, the sentence assumes a temporal reading. The natural phenomenon in question - sun, rain or darkness - becomes a purely temporal entity and stherefore, can only temporally locate the activity.
We can observe a parallel: the opposition “physical reading (with DA) – temproal reading (without DA)” VS “ spatial reading (with DA) – telic reading (without DA)”
This is possible both for spatially static and spatially dynamic verbs, with effective and non-effective phenomena, as shown in the following examples:
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings : in the so called “telic constructions” in French the functional definite article is used, in Serbian naturally there is no article but the presence of indefinite adjective cancels the telic reading. Finally, in Bulgarian, in the telic constructions the definite article has to be omitted (its presence signalises that the reading is spatial).
So the implicit semantic difference btw the strong and the weak (functional) definite article in French is linguistically explicit in Bulgarian – it is shown by the opposition “presence – absence of article”.
In addition, we show that in natural languages telic readings emerging from potentially spatial underspecified constructions (in which prepositions such as à, na, u are used) should be carefully distinguished from construction in which prepositions are lexically encoding that the animate subject of the sentence playing an active role w.r.t. an object.
There are also semantic differences: nouns used in telic constructions with à, na, u in addition to their telic qualia have a clear spatial denotation and, contrary to the nouns used with inherently agentive prepositions (pred, za), are not interpreted as objects on which agents are performing actions but as places in which some (usually social) activities are taking place.
There are also different constraints on the accessibility of the interpretation. For lexical agentive prepositions, the “active” reading is accessible for any NP (indefinite, definite, etc…), but for spatial-telic readings, definiteness is a necessary condition.
Thus it seems that we can observe in languages two parallel phenomena: a) contextual meaning enrichment of originally spatial prepositions in terms of telicity; b) creation of specifically agentive prepositions.
An idea: languages with no articles, like Serbian, show a tendency to have more specialised semantically complex prepositions because of the impossibility to use the “presence / absence of article” opposition for creating differences in interpretation of prepositional constructions.
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