Lesson 7

Determiners (ii) --- articles

In the previous lecture we touched upon the fact that articles are the most typical of determiners. Now we will concentrate on this topic.

English has two articles: the definite and the indefinite article. As we know, all English common nouns have article contrast, so with plural count nouns and noncount nouns, the absence of an article signals the presence of another kind of article--- the zero article. It is in this sense that we may also say that English has three articles --- the definite, the indefinite, and the zero articles.

7.1 generic and specific references

In discussing the use of article, we must distinguish between generic and specific reference.

generic reference

When we say the reference is generic, we are talking about any membe4r representative of a class of people of things.  All the three forms of article can be used generically to refer to members of a class as a whole.

   In certain contexts, the definite article followed by a singular count noun often performs a generic function. The same function can also be performed by the definite article combining with certain adjectives or adjectival participles.

Generic reference can also be denoted by the indefinite article followed by a singular count noun.  This is especially common in giving definitions.  In so doing, we can also use plural and noncount nouns without the presence of any determiner.  This may be referred to as the generic use of the zero article.

specific reference

Specific reference is different from generic reference in that it does not refer to a class of people or things in general but to a particular specimen of the class. Specific reference falls into two kinds: definite specific reference and indefinite specific reference.

   Definite specific reference implies that a person or an object can be identified uniquely in the context or according to the common knowledge shared by speaker and hearer. The definite article is most frequently used in this sense.

In the case of indefinite specific reference the person or thing referred to is also a specific object, but is not definitely identified. This kind of referential meaning is most commonly expressed by the indefinite article. In certain contexts and situations the zero article can perform the same function.

anaphoric, anaphoric and situational reference

Definite specific reference can be anaphoric, anaphoric, or situational. The word anaphoric means “pointing backward”. When what is referred to occurs in a previous context and the definite article has to point backward for its meaning, this is known as “anaphoric reference”. The anaphoric use of the definite article is called “anaphoric THE”.

Anaphoric reference is also a kind of definite specific reference. The word means “pointing forward”.  When the referential meaning of the definite article is determined by what follows the articles and the head, and the article has to point forward for its own interpretation, that is anaphoric reference.

Situational reference is a kind of definite specific reference that depends not on any referent that has occurred in the context but solely on the common knowledge shred by speaker and hearer on a specific situation in which the reference is made clear. Situational reference is most commonly denoted by the definite article, but in certain situations the same function can also be performed by zero.