Determiners Lecture 5 Grammatical Determiners u Grammatical determiners

Determiners Lecture 5

Grammatical Determiners u ‘Grammatical determiners’ is a concept related to function. u It is used to make reference to various linguistic units. u They all play a part in building up the grammatical status of the noun

The articles are central among these units u They have no function independent of the noun. u These linguistic units constitute a closed system. u In addition to articles, this system includes the pronouns: possessive, interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite,

Personal Pronouns u We call pronouns a subclass of nouns because they can sometimes replace a noun in a sentence: Noun Pronoun John got a new ~He got a new job ~They should watch less television job Children should watch less television

There are three personal pronouns, and each has a singular and a plural form: Perso n 1 st 2 nd 3 rd Singul Plural Person Singul Plural ar ar I we 1 st me us you 2 nd you he/she they 3 rd him/he them u/it The first set of forms ( I, you, r/ithe . . . ) exemplifies the SUBJECTIVE CASE u the second set (me, you, him. . . ) exemplifies the OBJECTIVE CASE

The Other Types of Pronoun Type Members of the Subclass Example Possessive mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs The white car is mine Reflexive myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves He injured himself playing football Reciprocal each other, one another They really hate each other Relative that, which, whose, whom, where, The book that you gave me when was really boring Demonstrative this, that, these, those This is a new car Interrogative who, what, why, where, when, whatever What did he say to you? Indefinite anything, anybody, anyone, something, somebody, someone, nothing, nobody, none, no one There's something in my shoe

Many of the pronouns belong to another word class - the class of determiners. u They are pronouns when they occur independently, without a noun following them, as in This is a new car. u But when a noun follows them they are determiners. This car is new.

The class of nouns as a whole is an open class, the subclass of pronouns is closed. u A major difference between pronouns and nouns generally is that pronouns do not take the or a/an before them. u Further, pronouns do not take adjectives before them, except in very restricted constructions involving some indefinite pronouns (a little something, a certain someone).

Possessive pronouns u Possessive pronouns are marked for person, number and gender. u Possessive pronouns vs. possessive adjectives one set is used when the head in the NP is expressed (This is my car), u the other set is used when the NP has undergone ellipsis (the head is omitted: Your car is bigger than mine ). u

Possessive pronouns Singular Plural Subject Object case First person my mine ours Second person Third person m. yours theirs f. her its his hers

Reflexive pronouns u u u marked for person and number in 3 rd person sg. they are also marked for gender oneself (third person singular, but unmarked for gender) Singular Plural First person myself ourselves Second person yourself yourselves m. f. himself herself themselves n. itself Third person

Reflexive use u The reflexive pronouns are used instead of personal pronouns as direct or indirect object to indicate that the object NP is co-referential with the subject NP in the clause. John went to the barber's, and the barber shaved him. The barber shaved himself. Granny felt tired, so Mary made herself a nice cup of her a nice cup of tea.

Reflexive verbs u Certain verbs which can only occur with a reflexive object - reflexive verbs. u There is a difference in meaning: e. g. enjoy a film 'be amused/thrilled/moved by a film' vs. enjoy oneself 'have a good time' (not 'be amused/ thrilled/moved by oneself'!).

Emphatic use u u 1. 2. The reflexive pronouns can also be used to give special emphasis. Mrs. Grant herself served the tea. Mrs. Grant served the tea herself. There is a subtle difference in meaning: we get the impression that Mrs. Grant's serving the tea was something remarkable, a great honour for the guests, etc. we only learn that it was Mrs. Grant and nobody else who served the tea, perhaps because nobody else wanted to take the trouble

Demonstrative pronouns u The demonstrative pronouns are marked for number and for proximity (proximate and distal); this/these, that/those u Proximity in space: this book (refers to a book close to the speaker), that book (to a book further away). u Proximity in time: This is the hottest summer since 1930 vs. I remember the summer of '55: that was also a hot summer.

Wh-pronouns Interrogative pronouns are marked for animacy of referent (who vs. what; which is used with both) and for selectivity (which vs. who/what). u In addition, who is marked for case u Subject case Object case Non-selective Animate who(m) Selective Inanimate what which Genitive whose - -

Interrogative pronouns u introduce interrogative main clauses (What has happened? ) or nominal subclauses expressing indirect questions (He asked me what had happened). u What man could resist such an offer? (non-selective) vs. u Which book did you buy? (selective)

A selective pronoun is one that indicates that the referent is selected from a specific group of possible referents When Great-aunt Emma was young, both the butcher and the blacksmith in the village proposed to her. u Oh yes? Which of them did she marry? u Neither; she moved to London and ran a shop instead of marrying. u u which and neither are selective forms, indicating that the referent is to be selected from the group of referents

The non-selective pronouns who and nobody are used to indicate that there are no limits to the set of possible referents u This is a picture of Great-aunt Helen; she married the village school-teacher. And this is Great-aunt Emma as a young girl. u Who did she marry? u Nobody; she moved to London and ran a shop instead of marrying.

Indefinite pronouns (and quantifying determiners) u Since many of the indefinite pronouns coincide in form with quantifying determiners, the two groups will be presented together. u 3 groups of indefinite pronouns: existential, quantifying, and generic.

Existential indefinite pronouns The existential indefinite pronouns are unmarked for gender, status and animacy of referent. u Semantically they can be divided into Simple Compound u Personal Universal Distributive every Non-personal everyone, everybo everything dy each; either - - all; both - - Assertive someone, somebody something Non-assertive any; either anyone, anybody anything Negative no, none; neither no one, nobody Collective nothing

Universal existential pronouns u each vs. every – slight difference u Each favours a selective interpretation, esp. before an of-phrase: each member of the Council, each of the members. u Every is used in clearly non-selective contexts: Every star was shining bright on the firmament.

Quantifying indefinite pronouns u 2 groups, multal and paucal forms, with parallel sets of forms for use with C and U nouns u The multal forms indicate a great number of referents (many) or a great amount (much); u The paucal forms indicate a small number (few) or a small amount (little). Multal Paucal Countable many few Uncountable much little

The generic indefinite pronoun u the generic indefinite pronoun one vs. numeral one & prop word one Numeral Indefinit e article Prop word Generic pronoun Singular one one Plural - - ones - Genitive - - one’s Reflexive - - - oneself

u The numeral one is used in a noun phrase: John lost one dollar. u The prop word one replaces the head of a noun phrase: John has a blue car, and Mary has a red one. The new biscuits taste better than the old ones. u The generic pronoun is used with generic reference: One should not think so much of oneself and one's own problems.

The Articles u John saw a unicorn in the garden. u The person (John), the animal (unicorn) and the garden in question are said to be the referents of the expressions John, a unicorn, and the garden, respectively.

To sum up: reference is a relation between an expression (an utterance) and whatever in the outside world that particular utterance is about u specific reference is to one or more specific, identifiable referents, e. g. John saw a tiger in the garden. The reference is here to one specific tiger and one specific garden. u generic reference is to a whole class of referents, either distributively to any member of the class, e. g. Tigers are beautiful beasts, or collectively to the class as a whole, e. g. Sabretoothed tigers are extinct.

Article distribution u u The definite and the indefinite articles can never be pronouns. They are always determiners. Countable nouns Specific reference Singular Plural New information I read a book and some journals on the train. The train drove past Ø villages, Ø fields and Ø clumps of trees. Given information The book was boring, but the journals were interesting. The villages looked dirty, but the fields and the trees were covered with white snow. Generic reference Singular Plural A lion is a dangerous beast. (distributive generic reference) The lion is a dangerous beast. (collective generic reference) Lions are dangerous beasts. (collective or distributive generic reference)

Uncountable nouns Specific reference Singular Plural New information I bought some wine and some clothes yesterday. Given information The wine was expensive, but the clothes were cheap. Singular There's some/Ø beer in the The beer should be cold by now. fridge. Generic reference Singular Plural John likes Ø wine. /Ø Wine is expensive here. Ø Clothes are cheap there

Special cases u The definite article We can recognize a number of cases where the definite article is used without contrasting with the other articles. This is always the case with the following categories of proper nouns:

A. Plural geographical names u Countries and regions: the Netherlands, the United States, the Midlands u Mountain ranges, groups of islands: the Rockies, the Himalayas, the Pyrenees, the Andes; the Hebrides, the Scillies, the Canaries (or the Scilly Isles, the Canary Islands).

B. Singular geographical names u u Seas: the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the Pacific Rivers: the Thames, the Avon, the Danube, the Euphrates, the Nile, the Potomac Canals: the Suez Canal, the Erie Canal Certain countries: the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union

C. Various social institutions u u Cultural institutions (theatres, museums, libraries, galleries, cinemas): the Globe, the Victoria and Albert, the Bodleian, the Palladium Restaurants, clubs, hotels: the Ritz, the Sheraton D. Newspapers: The Times, The Independent, The Observer, The New Haven Advocate (but zero article in names of magazines and journals: Punch, Time, Life, Language)

E. Ships: the Victory, the Titanic F. Organizations: the United Nations, the European Union u The definite article is also used with nominalized adjectives, including certain nationality adjectives. Such constructions always have generic reference: the poor, the rich, the blind, the English, the Irish. u Note the difference between the English (generic) and the Englishmen (specific).

The with longer noun groups We do not normally use the with U nouns because they refer to sth in a general way. u However, the is required if the U noun is followed by a qualifier which relates it to a particular person, thing. u Example: / am interested in the education of young children. u

The indefinite article u It is used to talk about things or people in an indefinite way. u A or an are put in front of the sg. form of a C noun. u Example: An old lady was calling to him.

The indefinite article it derives historically from the unstressed form of 'one', u there are still many contexts in which this numerical function is uppermost. u So 'one‘ could be seen as a slightly emphatic equivalent of 'a'. u Example: a mile or two /one or two miles/ u

The indefinite article u when we are mentioning s. o. or sth. for the first time u it’s the 'unmarked' article in the sense that it is used where the conditions for the use of 'the' do not obtain. u Unlike the definite article the indefinite article does not signal co-reference with a preceding indefinite noun phrase.

The indefinite article u with noun phrases which do not refer, but ascribe a property to the referent of the subject noun phrase or pronoun: Ian is a Scot. Peter is an engineer. She is a first-year student. He is a bachelor.

u If, on the other hand, the NP refers to a unique holder of an office/position, the definite article (or the zero article) is used: Peter is (the) chairman of the Board. u After the preposition as, however, the zero article is used: Speaking as chairman, I cannot accept this proposal.

The indefinite article u Although we do not normally use determiners with uncountable nouns, we can use a or an with an uncountable noun when it is modified or qualified. u Example: She had an eagerness for life.

The indefinite article when using one individual person or thing to make a general statement about all people or things of this type u Example: A computer can only do what you program it to do. u u This is not the usual way of referring to groups. Normally, we would use the plural form of a noun without a determiner.

The zero article in NPs with sg. C nouns and with specific reference if the information is contextually given rather than textually given. u This is the case with certain kinship terms (Mother, Father, Uncle, Granny) and with a few occupational terms (Cook, Nurse). u Note the difference b/n Mother helped them (the speaker's mother) and The mother helped them (a mother previously mentioned in the text). u The same use of the zero article is found with town, as in Lulu's back in town. u

In the following cases English uses zero article corresponding to definite forms of nouns in Bulgarian u u abstract uncountables with generic reference: Life is a struggle; Late 19 th century art became increasingly decadent; activities associated with institutions: go to church/school; go to/be in hospital/prison (Am. E the hospital) (but the definite article is used with reference to the buildings: They went to the church but the door was locked so they couldn't get in); meals (Dinner is ready); certain time expressions: Spring seemed a long way away; Easter is early next year; at down, after dark, before morning came

Means of transport and communication Example: travel by car, communicate by telephone u Illnesses The zero article is normally used for illnesses. Example: appendicitis, diabetes, influenza, pneumonia. But the is often used, in a more traditional style of speech, for some well-known infection diseases. Example: (the) flu, (the) measles, (the) mumps u