2015-09-06
1713
Nouns are preceded by atr. though much has been written about art, the theory of it is still problematic. The meaning of the art is extremely abstract and hard to define, but the main meanings can be summarized as follows: the ind art – with count nouns – the nominating meaning, to name an object; with uncount nouns – aspective meaning (esp with abstract nouns – a dull anger, after a long silence), to bring out a special abstract of the notion, expressed by a noun. The definite art: with count nouns (sing, pl)– individualizing meaning – it singles out an object or a group of objects from all the other objects of the same class; with count nouns (sing)– the generic meaning (The cat is the domestic animal) – the noun becomes a composite image of the all class of objects; with uncount nouns – the restricting meaning – may restrict the abstract notion, expressed by a noun to a specific instance (I didn’t want to show the joy I felt), restricts the material denoted to a definite quality or locality (The water in the glass was too cold to drink – quality, The water in the lake was too cold to bathe in – location). The absence of the art. always has the nominating meaning, as it is parallel to the use of the ind art.
The art. have morph and syntactical functions. MF is to serve as a formal indicator of the noun. The presence of the art signals that what follows is a noun. The art has 2 SF: the art. separates the noun from other parts of the sentence; the art is one of the means that serve to connect sentences within a text (I’ve bought a book – correlates – The book is interesting). If we apply the theory of communication we can see that the art. has a communicating function (new and old info, theme and rhyme). The absence of the art.- new info, the def.art.- the theme of the communication.
