Generic, Definite, and Indefinite Reference in the Balti Nominal System

Abstract

This study investigates how the Balti Tibetan nominal system encodes genericness, definiteness, and indefiniteness. The data analyzed in this study are based primarily on systematic observation of naturally occurring Balti expressions and the researcher’s native-speaker intuition. Although the existence of a definite article in Balti has long been debated, the data presented here shows that Balti nouns are encoded through three distinct systems: generic, definite, and indefinite. Bare nouns express generic reference. The definite article པོ་ po and its variants signal discourse familiarity and uniqueness, while the indefinite article ཅི་ tʃi and its variants introduce a referent into the discourse without presupposing the hearer’s ability to uniquely identify it. This study provides a basis for future research on nominal reference systems in other Tibetan dialects. It also opens avenues for investigating the expression of generic, definite, and indefinite reference in other Tibetan dialects and Literary Tibetan and for tracing the historical development and evolution of the Balti nominal system.