Kel and definiteness on Cape Verdean

There are controversies in studies about the noun phrase in Cape Verdean specially concerning the particle kel. Some analyses present the particle kel and its plural counterpart kes as a definite article others claim this particle can assume the role of a definite article (BAPTISTA, 1997, 2002, 2007; ALEXANDRE, 2004 & SOARES; and others). Scholars who assumed kel as a definite article, however, did not explain what allows its use as definite article. In this paper, I will present an analysis of this particle adopting a semantic perspective in order to clarify how the particle kel functions within the noun phrase of the Cape Verdean.