"Strong" Indefiniteness and Topicality

Abstract

The paper addresses the relation between “strong” or presuppositional readings of indefinite noun phrases and the notion of topicality in its sentential and discourse-level formulations. Previous discussions of the issue were generally based on the interpretative properties of indefinite noun phrases at positions associated with topicality (e.g. subject of an individual-level predicate, within the antecedent of a conditional). The paper aims to contribute to the debate with data from Turkish, which overtly marks “strong” indefiniteness at a position generally associated with focus rather than topic. It is argued on the basis of Turkish data that “strong” indefiniteness and topicality should be kept distinct.