scholarly journals Definite article (omission) in British, Maltese, and other Englishes

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-303
Author(s):  
Manfred Krug ◽  
Christopher Lucas
Keyword(s):  
Definite Article ◽  
British English ◽  
Ordinal Numbers ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Text Corpora

Abstract This article investigates factors that underlie the discrepancies in article omission between Maltese English (MaltE) and British English (BrE), with reference to further ENL, ESL and EFL varieties. We investigate seasons of the year, ordinal numbers, languages, proper nouns, titles, institutions and common nouns. Our sources include text corpora, and web and questionnaire-based data. Our key proposal is that MaltE has innovated a rule that the definite article may be omitted when the uniqueness or identifiability of a referent is salient in context. Furthermore, MaltE avoids the definite article commonly when the referent is generic rather than definite. The resulting MaltE system is regulated according to fewer parameters than in BrE, but more consistently.

scholarly journals The polyfunctional lexeme /fard/ in the Arabic dialects of Iraq and Khuzestan

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
Bettina Leitner ◽  
Stefan Prochazka
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Epistemic Status ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Text Corpora ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Very High

Abstract The primary aim of this paper is to explore the functions of the word /fard/ in Iraqi and Khuzestani Arabic. The study is based on the analysis of various text corpora and the elicitation of further examples from native speakers of the varieties investigated. The analysis of these data has shown that /fard/ is a polyfunctional item. Its various functions are the result of several grammaticalization processes. In the first stage, the noun “individual” has become a quantifier that expresses singularity. From this stage it developed into an intensifier, a marker of approximation and the scalar adverb “only.” It has been demonstrated that, from its use as a presentative marker, it developed toward an indefinite article. In contrast to the definite article, which is a grammatical category in nearly every variety of Arabic, the use of an indefinite article is rarely found in spoken Arabic. In Iraqi and Khuzestani Arabic, /fard/ is an indefinite article that possesses a wide range of applications and only a limited set of constraints. Its use, however, remains optional to a very high degree. Its main function is that of a presentative—i.e., introducing a new referent into a discourse. In addition, it also functions as an individuation marker, as a marker for expressing the speaker’s epistemic status (knowledge/ignorance) regarding a referent, and indicating free choice from a set of potential referents. Related to this last function is its use as a mitigating device in imperatives and polite requests.

scholarly journals The Role of the Article in the Semantic Interpretation of the Antecedent in Attributive Clauses

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2 (11)) ◽  
pp. 68-73
Author(s):  
Nune Hayrapetyan
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Proper Nouns

The role of the article in all grammar structures leaves no doubt. Attributive clauses prove no exception. Here, the article used with the antecedent contributes to the distinction of the attributive clause. Attributive clauses can be divisible and non-divisible. The antecedent of the latter is closely connected to the thematic continuation which acts as its characterization and does not need any restriction in the use of the article, i.e. both definite and indefinite article may be used here. Unlike non-divisible sentences, the antecedent in divisible attributive clauses is not strongly bound with its subordinate continuation since the latter contains additional information only. The semantic emphasis of the antecedent requires the use of only the definite article which can be used in zero category as an antecedent used in the presence of proper nouns.

The Problem of the Missing Article in the Use of ‘God’

1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Rien Op Den Brouw
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Definite Description ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Third Place ◽  
The Third ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Christian Discourse

This article is concerned with the use of ‘God’ in Judaeo-Christian discourse. The debate over ‘God’ has mainly centred on the puzzling issue of whether ‘God’ is a proper name with no descriptive connotation at all or whether it is a descriptive term with unique reference. In my view four things have to be taken into account in analysing the use of this term. In the first place, the term ‘God’ is a speech or communication phenomenon. Any treatment of this term should therefore consider the intentions, purposes, beliefs that a speaker has in using this word. In the second place, in Christian theistic discourse this term occurs both with and without modification. ‘The God of Israel’ is an example of ‘God’ with modification. It can be analysed as a noun phrase in which ‘God’ fulfils the function of HEAD, ‘the’ is a definite article filling the DETERMINER slot, and ‘of Israel’ is a prepositional phrase functioning as POSTMODIFIER. The use of only the term ‘God’ is an example without modification. In the third place, when Christians use ‘God’, either with or without modification, they use it to refer to, to describe or address one particular being. In the fourth place, when they use ‘God’ without modification, they do not use this term with an (in-) definite article. In this article three accounts of the term ‘God’ will be discussed: the proper name analysis, the definite description analysis, and the title-phrase analysis. Grammatically speaking, among the defenders of any of these analyses there is an agreed consensus on the classification of ‘God’ as a noun, but there is a disagreement about whether ‘God’ belongs to the category of proper nouns or to that of common nouns. Those adopting one of the last two analyses assume that ‘God’ is a common noun. This article presents an inquiry into the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three analyses. In brief, the question we are seeking to answer is the following: what kind of term is ‘God’ and what is a Christian saying when he says ‘God’?

Déterminants et noms de pays en français contemporain

Revue Romane ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Anscombre ◽  
Danièle Flament
Keyword(s):  
Specific Activity ◽  
Symbolic Power ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Rigid Designators ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This article deals with the particular function of feminine proper nouns as names of countries. Unlike masculine nouns, these often do not need the definite article: le président (de l’Italie/du Chili) vs la reine (du Danemark/de Suède), habiter (en France/au Danemark). Many explanations have been suggested: morphological ones (nouns ending in -e or beginning with a vowel), lexical ones (archaisms) or semantics ones (the presence/absence of a definite article conveying different sorts of locative meanings). None of these are completely satisfactory, however. In fact, proper nouns as names of countries may be considered as a sub-class of a locative noun-class which includes common nouns. These exhibit the same linguistic properties when their referent is unique: au ciel/en enfer, au printemps/en automne. Our assumption is that the en/dans opposition between activities and locations (être en prison/dans la prison) pervaded the en/à opposition. We shall establish that these constructions are phrases with a zero article and have semantic and syntactic properties associated with the meaning of specific activity. The consequence is that locative proper nouns cannot be considered as rigid designators. They have the same status as common nouns and can convey the persistent symbolic power of myths. This explains why the French say en juillet faucille au poignet, July being the harvest month, and why they speak of pêcheurs d’Islande not to refer to Islandic fishers but to the legend of cod-fishing in ancient times.

scholarly journals Categories of definiteness in Classical Armenian

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelika Müth
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Definite Articles

In this paper, the use of the definite article in semantic and pragmatic categories in the Greek and Classical Armenian New Testament translation is compared. Greek and Classical Armenian agree in their use of the definite article only in NPs determined by contrastive attributes. In all other categories the systems of both languages differ. Generally, Armenian avoids the definite article with proper nouns and nouns with unique reference, while definite articles with proper names in Greek are common (with the exception of sacred or especially “respected” persons such as prophets). If the definite article is present in Greek, it is often motivated by pragmatic factors (e.g. re-topicalization, etc.). There is no clear evidence in Armenian for the use of the definite article as a marker of generic reference, nor for the use in NPs determined by superlative, comparative or ordinal attributes.

scholarly journals On Proper Names in German: An Analysis from the Cognitive Perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (28) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Magdalena Zofia Majcher
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
German Language ◽  
Proper Noun ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Demonstrative Pronoun ◽  
Grammar Analysis

The aim of this paper is a cognitive grammar analysis of noun phrases in German which contain a proper noun. It is common for proper nouns in German, like first names, surnames, the names of cities and countries, to occur without an article. They can, however, also occur with the definite article, the demonstrative pronoun or with the indefinite article. There are also proper nouns in German, such as the names of rivers, mountain ranges, and some countries, which—according to many grammars—obligatorily occur with the definite article. However, it may happen that even those occur without an article. Whether there is an article before a proper noun or not is regarded as a grammatical phenomenon, without acknowledging its semantic aspects. The latter are only considered in a very few cases. A cognitive grammar analysis makes it possible to look at the abovementioned phenomena from the semanticconceptual perspective, thus ensuring wider opportunities to explain and describe them. According to cognitive grammar, every use of any element should have a semantic-conceptual motivation. The cognitive grammar analysis of German noun phrases containing a proper noun carried out in this article allows us to conclude that the use of articles in the German language is in most cases determined by the speaker’s intention. The analysis in this paper includes a description of noun phrases containing proper nouns selected from the German magazine Der Spiegel.

scholarly journals OBSERVATION ON A CERTAIN GRAMMATICAL HOMONYMY IN BULGARIAN AND EXERCISES TO OVERCOME THE MISTAKES IT CAUSES IN FOREIGN STUDENTS’ SPEECH

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1683-1686
Author(s):  
Mariya Genova ◽  
Lidiya Kavrakova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
Ordinal Numbers ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Forms

Developing communicative competence is a main objective in learning Bulgarian as a foreign language. There are two teaching aims in the process, a general one (everyday usage) and special one (academic and professional communication). Bulgarian name system, nouns, adjectives and numerals in particular, proves to be a source of numerous mistakes made by foreigners during their language education. There are certain forms and structures in the morphological system of Bulgarian which foreign students find really hard to acquire. These are of great interest in the light of the repair theory, so that an approach to rectify the mistakes is developed. The present article’s purpose is to examine a grammatical homonymy of word forms with identical inflection “a” with nouns, adjectives and ordinal numbers. Homonymous affixes –а (улица, главна улица, три стола, на стола, трета улица) have entirely different meanings. With nouns, adjectives and ordinal numbers ‘a’’ is an indication for singular feminine, whereas with the masculine it indicates numerical form or definiteness – definite article. This grammatical homonymy induces objectively lexical-grammatical errors due to overgeneralization at the early stage of teaching Bulgarian to foreign students. These homonymous word forms recognition by the students is the basis for lexical-grammatical competence (main parameter, including lexical, morphological, syntactic and phonological and graphological knowledge). To achieve this competence we introduce targeted exercises in identifying and comparing homonymous affixes and their correct usage in sentence construction. According to the generally accepted concept of human cognitive activities, the core of learning is information processing rather than habitualization. Inasmuch as foreign language acquisition requires actively extracting rules from the language input, the knowledge of the presented grammatical homonymy is expected to be applied by students in order to achieve Bulgarian linguistic competence.

Have went– an American usage problem

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-312
Author(s):  
INGRID TIEKEN-BOON VAN OSTADE ◽  
VIKTORIJA KOSTADINOVA
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Standard Form ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Status ◽  
British English ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Text Corpora ◽  
Close Analysis

Have wentmay seem a straightforward non-standard grammatical form today, but it evidently has a different status in British and American English. While in British English it developed into a non-standard form after the codification of the strong verb system by the eighteenth-century normative grammarians, in American English it became a usage problem. This we concluded from its appearance primarily in usage guides published in the United States over the years. The current status of the variant in the region was confirmed by evidence we encountered both in anonymous surveys and in face-to-face interviews with native speakers of American English. Our findings for the differences in status ofhave wentin the course of its history were supported by corpus-based analyses of historical and modern text corpora for British and American English, while a close analysis of selected modern instances ofhave wentandhave goneshowed a different distribution between the two that appears to warrant a perceived difference in meaning noted by some of the American informants.

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