Seemingly Indefinite Definites

From the time of Bertrand Russell, the semantics of the English definite article has been the object of continued semantic analysis. Most analyses make some use of the notions of uniqueness, or familiarity, however defined more precisely (see for instance Roberts, 2003, for one recent analysis and review). In this paper, though, we wish to motivate through both experimental and non-experimental methodologies the claim that there is a sub-class of English definite articles which function differently, being much more akin to indefinites in their interpretations than the much larger and more general class of definite articles that is the primary focus of continued study. Recognizing this distinction may prove useful in future work on the semantics of the definite article, as the class of “indefinite definites”, or “weak definites,” represents a class of examples constituting the greatest challenge to uniqueness or familiarity-based accounts. Setting them aside and treating them as a separate group for different treatment may prove a fruitful research strategy.