0 the word “the,” or a similar word in another language -- bestemt artikkel [ masculine ]
1 the name given to the word the. -- bestemt artikkel
Furthermore, idiomatic usage may distinguish between the zero article and the definite article in such contexts.
This is strong evidence to suggest that a preposed adnominal genitive nominal was in complementary distribution with a demonstrative or 'definite article'.
For instance, the definite article the specifies that the instance it grounds is presumed to be identifiable to the addressee.
Furthermore, as can be seen in example (18), she oversupplies the definite article in nonspecific indefinite contexts.
The rest of the characters are introduced with a definite article.
In the other case, a definite article was used, rather than indefinite but this could be argued to be a unique mention (the freezer).
The definite article therefore becomes unacceptable here not because the referent is not known in an immediate situation but because of cultural practice.
We will see, in section 4.3, that the semantics of ay is analogous to the semantics of the definite article in language.
