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Lecture7Determiners(II)—Articles7.1GenericandspecificreferenceGenericReferenceSpecificReferenceArticleDefiniteSpecificReferenceIndefiniteSpecificReferenceAnaphoricSRCataphoricSRSituationalS-Whenwesaythereferenceisgeneric,wearetalkingaboutanymemberrepresentativeofaclassofpeopleorthings.Allthethreeformsofarticle(thedefinitearticlethe,theindefinitearticlea(n),andthezeroarticle)canbeusedgenericallytorefertothemembersofaclassasawhole.GenericReferencethe+asingularcountnoun:Galileoclaimedthathehadinventedthetelescope.Thehorsehasbeenreplacedbytherailroad,thewindshipandthesteamship.the+adjectivesoradjectivalparticiples:Thesickhavebeencured,thelosthavebeenfound,andthedeadhavebeenrevived.Therichgetricher,andthepoorgetchildren.Thetrue,thegoodandthebeautifulwouldnotexistwithoutthefalse,theevilandtheugly.Theoppressedandtheexploitedwantedtofreethemselvesfromtheoppressors.Thezeroarticle+pluralornon-countnouns:Anoxisausefulanimal.MybrotherWilliamisplanningtobealawyer.a/an+asingularcountnoun:Doctorsarebadlyneededatthefront.Carrotsaremyfavouritevegetable.Theyareteachers,notstudents.Catsandtigersbelongtothesamefamilyofmammals.Electricityisaformofenergy.Unityisstrength.Knowledgeispower.Definitespecificreference(确定特指)impliesthatapersonoranobjectcanbeidentifieduniquelyinthecontextoraccordingtothecommonknowledgesharedbyspeakerandhearer.Thedefinitearticle“the”ismostfrequentlyusedinthissense.DefiniteSpecificReferenceWeownadogandacat.Thedogisbrown,andthecatiswhite.Thedogandthecatarethesameoneswehadlastyear.Inthecaseofindefinitespecificreference(非确定特指),thepersonorthingreferredtoisalsoaspecificobject,butisnotdefinitelyidentified.Thiskindofreferentialmeaningismostcommonlyexpressedbytheindefinitearticle(a/an).Incertaincontextsandsituationsthezeroarticlecanperformthesamefunction.IndefiniteSpecificReferenceIhavelostabutton.Imetanoldmaninthestreet.There’saletterforyou.AbookIwanthasbeenacquiredbythelibrary.Sheputcarrotsinthestew.Thestreetsarecleanandareshadedwithtrees.AnaphoricSpecificReference后照应特指Thewordanaphoricmeans“pointingbackward”.Whenwhatisreferredtooccursinapreviouscontext,thedefinitearticlethehastopointbackwardforitsmeaning.SuddenlyMarshaheardwhatsoundedlikeafightbetweenamanandawoman.Shetensed,preparedtocallhelptillsherealisedthatthewomanseemedtobegettingthebetterofit.LynlivedwithherhusbandinahousethattheyhadboughtforasonginnearbySeyerStreet.Thehousewascheappartlybecauseitwasfallingdown.Heorderedabooksometimeago.Ithasnowarrived.sheItCataphoricSpecificReference前照应特指Thewordcataphoricmeans“pointingforward”.Whenthereferentialmeaningofthedefinitearticletheisdeterminedbywhatfollowsthearticleandthehead,thearticlehastopointforwardforitsowninterpretation.PleasetellusthestoryofFranklin.IsthisthetrainforShanghai?HereisthestudentItoldyouabout.Itdependsnotonanyreferentthathasoccurredinthecontextbutsolelyonthecommonknowledgesharedbyspeakerandheareroronaspecificsituationinwhichthereferenceismadeclear.Itismostcommonlydenotedbythedefinitearticlethe,butincertainsituationsthesamefunctioncanalsobeperformedbyzero.SituationalReference语境特指Wife:“I’mjustbackfromthemarket.”What’sinthepaper(s)today?Shutthedoor,please.How’sthecoughtoday?Heturnedontheradio.What’sontheradio?Maryasked,“WhyisFatheroutofwork?”Johnwaselectedchairmanofthestudents’union.P75Ex.7AArticlesinusewithdifferentclassesofnounRefertoP76-82TheuseofarticlesisoftenaheadacheforusChineselearners.ThisisnotonlybecausethereisnoarticlecontrastinChinesecommonnouns,butalsobecausetherearetoomanyexceptionstotherulesguidingtheuseofarticles.Asamatteroffact,thechoiceofanarticleinquiteafewidiomaticexpressionsisjustamatterofusagewhichisdifficultorevenimpossibletoexplainintermsofafewgrammaticalrules.Thefollowingisabriefdescriptionoftheuseofarticleswithdifferentclassesofnoun.