The position of the adjective in definite noun phrases

This paper discusses the various possible ordering patterns in noun phrases (NPs) with one attributive adjective, Le. article-adjective-noun (aAN), article-noun-article-adjective (aNaA) and noun-article-adjective (NaA). It is shown that in Herodotus the choice for one of these patterns depends on pragmatic factors, viz. the saliency of the information expressed by the various constituents of the NP and the identifiability of the intended referent. The last paragraph examines whether these pragmatic differences can be deduced from the formal, syntactical, differences between the patterns.