Laqme: actually sumti is "term" not "DP"

2023-12-05T21:48:02Z

actually sumti is "term" not "DP"

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	A '''determiner phrase''' or '''DP''' is a [[constituent]] that refers to an individual. Most prototypically, it's formed by combining a [[determiner]] and a [[verb]]. For example, {{t\|ké zu}} "the language" is a DP.		A '''determiner phrase''' or '''DP''' is a [[constituent]] that refers to an individual. Most prototypically, it's formed by combining a [[determiner]] and a [[verb]]. For example, {{t\|ké zu}} "the language" is a DP.

	~~Lojbanists call these ''sumti''.~~ You may be more familiar with the term '''noun phrase''' or '''NP''' if you've studied English syntax. But Toaq is based on a slightly more complex branch of [[generative grammar]] that favors DPs, and anyway it doesn't have nouns, so we talk about DPs instead.		You may be more familiar with the term '''noun phrase''' or '''NP''' if you've studied English syntax. But Toaq is based on a slightly more complex branch of [[generative grammar]] that favors DPs, and anyway it doesn't have nouns, so we talk about DPs instead.

	== Under the hood ==		== Under the hood ==

Laqme: article!

2023-12-04T13:34:17Z

article!

New page

{{refgram|syntax|determiner phrases}}

A '''determiner phrase''' or '''DP''' is a [[constituent]] that refers to an individual. Most prototypically, it's formed by combining a [[determiner]] and a [[verb]]. For example, {{t|ké zu}} "the language" is a DP.

Lojbanists call these ''sumti''. You may be more familiar with the term '''noun phrase''' or '''NP''' if you've studied English syntax. But Toaq is based on a slightly more complex branch of [[generative grammar]] that favors DPs, and anyway it doesn't have nouns, so we talk about DPs instead.

== Under the hood ==
The determiner is actually followed by a [[reduced relative clause]], which lets us put things like tense and aspect in the complement to say things like {{t|sá jıa fa}} "someone who will go".

There is an unpronounced layer called [[nP]] in-between, whose head supplies information that helps resolve pronouns in the [[semantics]] (such information is called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_features#Syntactic_analysis phi features]).

Semantically, there is technically only one determiner in Toaq, and it means "the". The difference between {{t|sá}} and {{t|tú}}, for example, is not in their own [[denotation]], but in what '''quantifier phrase''' or QP they imply sits at the top of the clause.

{{Example|Cho jí {{green|sá}} zu.|{{gray|''Some'' languages are such that}} I like {{green|the}} language.}}
{{Example|Cho jí {{green|tú}} zu.|{{gray|''All'' languages are such that}} I like {{green|the}} language.}}

[[Pronoun]]s are analyzed as DPs, too. We can think of {{t|jí}} as a determiner that's always followed by a covert verb and always resolves to the "speaker" constant.

== See also ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determiner_phrase Determiner phrase] on Wikipedia.

Determiner phrase - Revision history

Laqme: actually sumti is "term" not "DP"

Laqme: article!