§ 364. The two words a(n), the form a separate group or class characterized by
a) the lexico-grammatical meaning of '(in)definiteness', •b) the right-hand combinability with nouns, c) the function of noun specifiers.
§ 365. The lexical meaning of a(n) in Modern English is a very weak reminder of its original meaning (OE. an = one). In spite of the long process of weakening there remains enough of the original meaning in a(n) to exclude the possibility of its being attached to a 'plural' noun.
The lexical meaning of the in Modern English is a pale shadow of its original demonstrativemeaning.
The general lexico-grammatical meaning of these words, as usual, is not identical with their individual lexical meanings. It abstracts itself from the meaning of 'oneness' in a(n) and the 'demonstrative' meaning in the. Perhaps, the names ofjhe articles ('definite', 'indefinite') denote Jh_e„nearest approach to this lexico-grammatical meanTngT wBich, for lack of a better term, might be defined as that of 'definiteness — indefi-niteness'.
§ 366. One might be tempted to regard the two articles as members of an opposeme, and the meanings of 'definiteness', 'indefiniteness' as the particular meanings of some grammatical category. Language facts, however, contradict such views. As we know, the members of an opposeme must belong to the same lexeme and have identical meanings (barring those opposed). Now a(n) and the do not belong to one lexeme and their meanings are not identical. Besides the meaning of 'indefiniteness' a(n) possesses the meaning of 'oneness' not found in the. The 'demonstrative' meaning of the is alien to a(n).
For similar reasons a book — the book are not analytical members of some noun opposeme, and (he, a(n) are not grammatical word-morphemes.'
1) A(n) and the are not devoid of lexical meaning as
grammatical word-morphemes are.
2) Their meanings are not relative. The has the meaning
of 'definiteness' not only when opposed to a(n). Cf. snow —
the snow, books — the books.
All this corroborates the view that the articles are individual words with individual lexical meanings united by the general lexico-grammatical meaning of '(m)defi-niteness'.
§ 367. Some grammarians speak of the 'zero article' 1 or the 'zero form of the indefinite article' 2. We are definitely against these terms.
A grammatical zero morpheme is created in an opposeme owing to the relative nature of grammatical meanings. As shown above, the articles are not grammatical morphemes and their meanings are not relative. They are words, and the absence of a word cannot be regarded as a zero word. We do not speak of zero prepositions or zero particles. There is not more reason to speak of zero articles.
§ 368. The common features in the combinability of the articles are due to their belonging to the same part of speech, in other words, the lexico-grammatical combinability of the articles is the same. Both of them have right-hand connect ions with the same part of speech, nouns.
The difference in their combinability can be explained by the difference in their lexical meanings.
§ 369. In accordance with its meaning 'one of many' the indefinite article is used to denote one thing of a class .and is therefore a classifying article.
Thus the sentence / bought a pencil is roughly equivalent to another (clumsier) sentence / bought one of those things called pencils. He is a student is equivalent to He is one of those (people) called students.
Naturally, the indefinite article with its meaning of 'oneness'is not used with a 'plural' noun, but it can be used with a noun in the singular denoting the whole class, as An eagle is a very strong bird.
1 À. È. Ñìèðíèöêèé, op. cit., p. 382.
2 M. Ganshina, N. Vasilevskaya, op. cit., p. 41.
The lexical meaning of a(n) explains why it is not-normally used with 'uncountable' nouns like snow, meat, bravery or 'countable' nouns used in «n 'uncountable' sense.
E. g. We have duck for dinner.
Conversely, abstract uncountables regularly occur with the indefinite article if used to denote kinds or varieties of some abstract concept, state, quality, etc.
E. g. It had been a long and frustrating courtship. (Greene)
The indefinite article is not used with proper nouns because its meaning 'one of many' does not go with the 'individualizing' sense of a proper noun. A Paris would denote one of many Parises, which is absurd. But when a proper name is used as a common noun (e. g. a Byron = a poet) it may be associated with the indefinite article.
E. g. A new Shakespeare is yet to come. (The Tribune)
§370. In compliance with its 'demonstrative' meaning the definite article points out or individualizes one object or a class of objects denoted by the noun it is associated with, and is therefore an individualizingor limitingarticle.
When a man says to his friend / have bought the book, it is clear that both the speaker and the hearer bear in mind a definite particular book, not 'one of many'. In The hawk is a bird of prey, the hawk as a class of birds is singled out from other classes.
Now, since it is possible to 'point out' almost any object or substance, the definite article may be used with most nouns and different noun grammemes.
Abstract nouns: There were moments when I was bewildered by t he terror John inspired. (Bronte).
Material nouns: / sat down in her boudoir, happy to breathe the air consecrated so lately by her presence. (Ib.).
'Singular' and 'Plural' nouns: At intervals, while turning over the I e a v e s of my book, I studied the a s p e ñ t of that winter afternoon. (Ib.).
Only proper names, which individualize without the help of the definite article, are mostly not associated with the. But there are cases when the is used. The said Eliza, John and Georgiana were now clustered round their mama. (Ib.)
216,
N î t e 1. In cases like the Hague, the Ukraine, the Volga, etc. the is an indispensable part of the name. It does not function as an article specifying a noun, but as part of a composite noun 1.
Note 2. In a book of this kind it seems superfluous to give numerous rules pertaining to the use of articles in speech. They can be found in any practical grammar. Most of them are covered by the principles stated above.
§ 371. Owing to its classifying force the indefinite article often draws the attention of the listener (or reader) to the word it is used with 2. This is not the case when the definite article is employed.
Cf. The curtain rose and a girt stepoed out. The curtain rose and the girl stepped out.
In the first example the attention of the listener is attracted to the fact that it was a girl (not a boy, an old man, etc.) who stepped out. In the second sentence the listener's attention is drawn to the action of stepping out. So the indefinite article is associated with some novelty of information, the definite article points out an object as something familiar.