§ 10. Summary

The system of English articles present a specific semiotic system which is meant to express a specific grammatical category of the noun based on the opposition of abstarction and specification. With the exception of uncount nouns, each name, proper or common, abstract or concrete may vary in terms of article use, thus indication various degrees of abstarction/specification. This can be accounted for by the innate mental ability of English-speaking people to classify, individualize concepts denoted by nouns, or take take them in the most abstract sense. The results of these mental operations are represented in speech by the zero, indefinite, and definite article forms of nouns respectively.

Normally, abstraction and classification are followed by individualization as a final stage of a cognitive process. This is revealed in the general order of the articles’ use: the forms with the definite article is to occur after its referent has been introduced by means of the form with the indefinite article (count) or with the zero article (uncount). The rule is explicitly described and recommended to go by in grammar books. However, the order article forms of nouns may vary, for the noun referent can be classified or taken in the most abstract way even after it has been identified. This is usually done to lay a special emphasis on a concept and can be most useful in imaginative writing, as the author often aims at producing an impact on the reader. Thus, the semiotic functions of the article in English turn out to be perfectly complemented by their stylistic functioning.

Notes

1. Determiner is a means of reference to the thing-meant denoted by a noun, i.e. a word that limits the meaning of a noun and comes before adjectives that describe the same noun. Determiners include the articles and pronouns.

2. See Jespersen O. Language. Its Nature, Development and Origin. London. 1949.

3. Of these 3 it is the grammatical juxtaposition of countable nouns and uncountable nouns which is relevant as to the article determination, because uncountable nouns have a limitation: they cannot be used with the indefinite article. The other two divisions of nouns are purely lexical and, therefore less rigorous. Both common and proper, concrete and abstract can be either countable or uncountable depending on meaning.

4. For details see: Murphy R. English Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press, 1985. Hewings M. Advanced Grammar in Use. Camb. Univ. Press. 1999. Vince M. Advanced Language Practice. Macmillan Heinemann. 1994; Alexander L.G. Longman Advanced Grammar. Reference and Practice. Longman. 1993.

5. See: Quirk R., Greenbaum S. A Concise Grammar of Contemporary English. London. 1973. P. 147-165; Biber D., Johansson S., Conrad S., Finegan E. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman. 1999. P. 232-266.

6. See. P. Biber D., Johansson S., Conrad S., Finegan E. Longman Grammar Of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 1999. P. 264-266.

7. See Quirk R., Greenbaum S. A Concise Grammar of Contemporary English. London. 1973. P. 71.

8. See Смирницкий А.И. Морфология английского языка. М., 1959. С. 380-386; Александрова О.В., Комова Т.А. Современный английский язык: Морфология и Синтаксис. М., 1998.

9. Another manifestation of the category of deixis is pronouns. Although both the articles and pronouns, mainly demonstrative and indefinite ones, determine nouns, they do so differently. Whereas the function of the article is to specify nouns in the most general way, the demonstrative pronouns this/that, these/those and the indefinite pronouns some and any are used to define persons, things or notions denoted by nouns in relation to other persons, things or notions, their function being to present a noun in a more detailed way, with a higher degree of certainty. Compare:

A man called in while you were out. (Not a woman) - Some man/some men called in while you were out. (A man/men strange to me)

Have an apple. (Not an orange) – Have any apple you like. (Every apple, no matter which one)

Will you give me the pen? (Which is mentioned and understood by both speakers) - Will you give me this pen? (The one I am pointing to)

Note that the use of the demonstrative pronouns is arbitrary though in most cases the definite article is more idiomatic. The use of the indefinite pronouns is arbitrary in the case they are to define count nouns both in the singular and plural. Their use may be obligatory if they are referred count and uncount nouns in the plural. For example:

There is some butter in the fridge. There isn’t any jam in the cupboard. Have you got any money? (Uncount nouns) There are some books on the shelf. There aren’t any nails in the box. (Count nouns)

10. Маслов Ю.С. Введение в языкознание. М., 1987. Никитин М.В. Категория артикля в английском языке. Фрунзе, 1961. Bloch M.Y. A Course in Theoretical English Grammar. Moscow. 1983. P. 74-85.

10. Longman Dictionary of Language and Culture. Longman, 2000. Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Macmillan, 2002. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Oxford University Press. 2005.

11. The definition is taken from: P. Biber D., Johansson S., Conrad S., Finegan E. Longman Grammar Of Spoken and Written English. Longman. 1999. P. 262.

12. Situational reference as a type of specific reference implies the use of the definite article before noun whose reference is immediately understood by the users of the language. Such words as sun, moon, earth, sky, air are described as unique. For details see Quirk R. Greenbaum S. A Concise Grammar of Contemporary English. London, 1982. P. 155-156.

13. Metonymy – a trope in which the name of one thing is used in place of that of another, closely related to it, for instance: a) the attribute for the thing-meant: “crown” for “king”; b) the effect for the cause: “bottle” for “drink”; c) the material for the object made of it: “silk” for “dress”; d) the author for his work: “Hemingway” for a book written by Hemingway”, etc. The definition is taken from: Задорнова В.Я. Стилистика английского языка. М., МГУ, 1986. С. 11.

14. The definitions are taken from: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd edition, Houghton Mifflin (1992), hardcover, 2140 pages, ISBN 0395448956 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction"; Философский энциклопедический словарь. М., 2001. С. 8.

15. The word truth can also be used in a narrowed sense to denote a fact or principle as true or for which proof exists, and thus be determined by the indefinite article:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. (J. Austen)

There’s a moral truth about the best literature that can tell us more about humanity that the most detailed and carefully researched history or biography. (A. McLean)

16. In such cases the indefinite article is said to have a quantitative meaning. See: Жигадло В. Н., Иванова И. П., Иофик Л.Л. Современный английский язык. Теоретический курс. М. 1956. С. 222.

17. See P. Biber D., Johansson S., Conrad S., Finegan E. Longman Grammar Of Spoken and Written English. Longman. 1999. P. 263.

18. Ibid. P. 263.

19. Ibid. P. 264.

20. Антономазия – 1. Обозначение лица словом, имеющим отвлеченное значение свойственного или приписываемого данному лицу качества (ср. эвфемизм: (le malin – le demon, черт, дьявол - нечистый). 2. Троп, состоящий в метафорическом применении собственного имени для обозначения лица, наделенного свойствами первоначального (широко известного по литературе, истории и т.п.) носителя этого имени (Отелло вм. ревнивец, Дон–Жуан вм. сластолюбец) 3. Фигура речи, состоящая в описательном обозначении лица (побежденный при Ватерлоо вм. Наполеон). См. Ахманова О.С. Словарь лингвистических терминов. М. 1966. С. 50.

21. See Смирницкий А.И. Морфология английского языка. М.1959. С. 385-386. Соболев И.П. Некоторые аспекты теории и нормы безартиклевых форм существительного в современном английском языке: Автореф. дисс…канд. филол. наук. М. 1973. С. 15-23.

22. For details see: Долгина Е.А. Краткая грамматика английского языка. М. 2000. C. 150-151.

Supply the missing articles in the texts below: