Definiteeither

Definiteeither is a neologism used in theoretical linguistics and philosophy of language to describe a hypothetical determiner that merges the notions of definiteness and disjunctive reference. In this usage, definiteeither marks that among a set of alternatives, exactly one element is identifiable and referable in the current discourse, while the others remain non-definite or contextually unavailable.

Semantics and formalization. A definiteeither expression is intended to denote a unique item x selected from a disjunction of candidates, with a definite reference status assigned to x. Formally, its denotation can be described as the unique x in a contextually salient set S such that x satisfies a given identifiability criterion. If there is no unique x that fits the criterion, the expression is often judged infelicitous or requires revision to the discourse structure. This captures a cross-cut between the definiteness condition (uniqueness and identifiability) and a disjunctive choice (one alternative among several).

Syntactic realization and use. As a functional-like determiner, definiteeither is posited to behave similarly to a definite article in syntax while encoding a semantic disjunction over alternatives. In practice, researchers discuss it as a potential tool for modeling how languages encode definiteness when there are multiple potential referents, and how discourse structure and focus influence the choice of referent. It is typically treated as a theoretical construct rather than a widely attested category in natural languages.

Relation to other concepts. Definiteeither relates to definiteness, disjunction, and choice functions in semantics. It is also discussed in relation to how definiteness interacts with anaphora, focus, and contextual salience. See also definiteness, either, disjunction, and choice theory.