Toward a definition of the generic noun phrase

Abstract

In order to complete my description of the so-called category of definiteness in Macedonian I needed an operational definition of what is called "a generic noun phrase". I did not find such a definition in works on definiteness and on reference. Thus, I decided to try and formulate a definition based on my knowledge of the Macedonian and Polish usage. My second problem is the conditions of appearance of the definite article in generic noun phrases, hence my examples come from Macedonian, where the category of definitness is strictly grammaticalized.