Two approaches for deriving a semantic map for indefinite pronouns

Abstract

In this thesis I analyze two different approaches for deriving a semantic map for indefinite pronouns: data-driven and space-driven. The starting point is the work of Haspelmath(1997): a typological study on indefinite pronouns. He induces a semantic map (and the functions on the map) from a large cross-linguistic research, i.e. he uses a data-driven perspective that entirely depends on how language is used. The other perspective is a space-driven approach: a semantic map is deduced from a semantic investigation of the different functions of indefinite pronouns. The semantic theory used for this approach is a semantic feature method. With the use of this method I first give a full explanation of Haspelmath's map, and second I derive my own semantic map for indefinite pronouns. The comparison of both semantic maps leads to some interesting results about the correspondence between language use and semantic properties of language for indefinite pronouns.