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    Definiteness
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    Definite determiners include the following: definite articles, demonstrative articles, possessive pronouns and definite quantifiers. Pronouns are characteristically used when the referent is known from the discourse context, so pronouns, including possessive pronouns, are inherently definite. Simple definite quantifiers include elke each, alle all, beide both. Complex definite quantifiers are al de, al it all the and the combination of alle followed by a cardinal numeral, such as alle trije all three.

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    Definite quantifiers cannot co-occur with the functional element der there, as the latter is characteristically used to introduce new discourse referents. An example is given below:

    1
    *Der rinne alle skiep yn 'e greide
    there walk all sheep in the meadow
    All sheep walk in the meadow

    Possessors, even if they are themselves indefinite, cause the Noun Phrase (NP) in which they are contained to be definite. Consider the following phrases:

    2
    a. Immen syn skiep
    somebody his sheep
    Somebody's sheep
    b. Immens skiep
    somebody's sheep
    Somebody's sheep

    These two phrases have the definite interpretation the sheep of a person. As a result, they cannot be used in the der there construction:

    3
    a. *Der rinne immen syn skiep troch it doarp
    there walk somebody his sheep through the village
    Somebody's sheep are walking through the village
    b. *Der rinne immens skiep troch it doarp
    there walk somebody's sheep through the village
    Somebody's sheep are walking through the village

    The subject NPs cannot receive an indefinite interpretation sheep of a person. A partitive construction must be used in order to express the latter meaning, and correspondingly, a partitive construction can be used in the der there construction:

    4
    a. Der rinne skiep fan immen troch it doarp
    there walk sheep of somebody through the village
    Somebody's sheep are walking through the village
    b. Der rinne guon fan immen syn skiep troch it doarp
    there walk some of somebody his sheep through the village
    Some of somebody's sheep are walking through the village

    Definite determiners also have the property that they prevent the paradigm of prenominal adjective agreement from applying, that is, definite determiners are always found with the same form of the adjective, regardless of number and gender (see agreement). Furthermore, the definite determiner and the demonstrative determiner express the number and gender distinctions characteristic of adjectival agreement by virtue of their irregular lexical shape (see agreement).

    Table 1
    Neuter SG Other
    Definite article it de
    Proximate demonstrative dit dizze
    Distal demonstrative dat dy
    The quantifiers elk (archaic: elts) each and welk which are exceptional in expressing number and gender in the same way as prenominal adjectives:
    Table 2
    Neuter SG Other
    Adjective rynsk abundant rynske
    Interrogative quantifier hok which hokke
    Universal quantifier elk each elke
    It is not clear whether the interrogative quantifier hok which should be considered to be an indefinite quantifier or a definite one. It is anyhow surprising that it patterns with (some) definite quantifiers expressing agreement in itself. With respect to its interpretation, consider a question like the following:

    5
    Hokke boeken hast lêzen?
    which books have.2SG read
    Which books have you read?

    The phrase hokke boeken which books seems to presuppose the existence of books in the discourse context, so that it may be considered to be at least partially definite. On the other hand, it can appear in the der there construction, but der there appears to be superfluous:

    6
    a. Hokke boeken soene der op it nachtkastje lizze?
    which books would there on the night.drawer lie
    Which books would be lying on the table?
    b. Hokke boeken soene op it nachtkastje lizze?
    which books would on the night.drawer lie
    Which books would be lying on the table?

    Possibly, this interrogative quantifier is ambiguous between a definite and an indefinite interpretation.

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: definite determinerinterrogative quantifier'
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
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      1.0 Eric Hoekstra December 2015
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