The article - the main central determiner in English noun phrases

Lucrare de licenta despre The article - the main central determiner in english noun phrases
The definite article "the" is a weakened form of the Old English demonstrative pronoun which in Old English besides the function of a demonstrative had also the function of the article. The demonstrative force of the definite article is still felt in such expressions as: nothing of a kind, at the time, under the circumstances, for the purpose.
The definite article is used before a noun to show that in the mind of the speaker and the hearer, the object denoted by the noun is marked as a definite object, distinct from all other objects of a class of or group of objects of certain description.

This is why the definite article is an individualizing or limiting article.3.1.1. Definite Specific Reference (Defining Function). The article the marks a noun phrase as definite, that is, as referring to something which can be identified uniquely in the contextual or general knowledge shared by speaker and hearer. Such shared knowledge is partly a knowledge of the world and partly a knowledge of English grammar. This is also with reference to the Pope, the President, the Government, the Equator, the stars and, as we see in these examples, the shared assumption of uniqueness in reference is often matched by use of an initial capital in writing.

Lucrare de licenta despre The article - the main central determiner in English noun phrases

Cuprins

Argument...................................................4

Chapter I. Noun phrases....................................5
1.1. The Interrelationship in English and Romanian....................5
1.2. Classifications of Determiners............................16

Chapter II. The articles......................................24
2.1. Definition ........................................24
2.2. Forms of the Articles...................................24
2.3. Common Uses of the Articles..................................25
2.4. Cases when the Article is Omitted................................33

Chapter III. The definite article....................................38
3.1. Uses of the Definite Article..............................38
3.2. Implicit or Situational Reference vs. Explicit or Linguistic Reference.......................................50

Chapter IV. The indefinite article.............................53
4.1. Form and Origin of the Indefinite Article.....................53
4.2. Place of the Indefinite Article...........................53
4.3. Uses of the Indefinite Article.........................54
4.4. Special Consideration upon both the Definite and the Indefinite Articles.......................................63

Chapter V. The absence of the article............................68
5.1. The Elypsis of the Article..............................68
5.2. The Zero Articles............................69
5.3. Cases where the Article does not Exist.........................76

Conclusions...............................................77

Bibliography...................................................78