Semantics:Indefinite

English has two words for the indefinate, some and any. The differens between can be very hard to detangle if you are not aware of it.

File:Indefinate Relation.png

The relation between indefinate meanings

Indefinate encompasses 9 fields where the word can differ.

• Specific Known: "Somebody called today, guess who?", Refers to an entity known to the speaker.
• Specific Unknown: "I heard something, what was it?", Refers to an entity uknonwn to the speaker.
• Irrealis: "You must try somewhere else", refers to an unspecific entity not being physicly refered to.
• Question: "Did someone say that?", If its in a question
• Conditional Antecedent: "If you see anyone, tell me", It is in the condition of a statement
• Indirect Negation: "I don't think that anyone knows the answer", the negation is typicly done at a higher level or clause.
• Direct negation: "John Didn't see anybody", The statement with the indefinate is directly negated
• Comparative: "John is taller than anybody", it is in a comparison
• Free Choice: "You can sit anywhere", Statements where the choice is free by the one involved

These are not unrelated to each other but have a semantic relation shown to the right. If a word, like english "any", covers 2 meanings connected by something else, like Question and Direct Negation that are connected through Indirect Negation, then the word itself, "any", must also contain the meaning of the thing in between, in this case indirect negation.