AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Determiners are generally considered a small, closed class of words. New determiners are not frequently added, as is the case with nouns, verbs, and the other large, open word classes. Even so, every once in a while a word can slip into a new role based on its evolved usage in a language. One such word in English is said. This study examines the distribution of said used as a determiner in English (for example in sentences such as, "I went to a restaurant for lunch, and said restaurant was way too crowded!"). After gathering a collection of 41 naturally occurring examples of said construction from corpora, conversation, internet, and various other sources, this type of said was examined in an attempt to explain its distribution in English. This thesis will investigate said's traditional usage, its new usage as a determiner, its place as a determiner among other referential expressions, and a distribution unlike any other determiner in English.