SEMINAR 2 B -- DETERMINERS - INTRODUCTION - 3 basic kinds of determiners: predeterminers (e.g. all, both, half)-- central det. (e.g. the, a, zero article) -- postdeterminers (e.g. many, few, little) - Nouns appear in noun phrases and the kind of reference depends on the accompanying determiners -- they affect the meaning of the noun, i.e. make it clear which particular thing(s) we are referring to or how much of a substance we're talking about. e.g. Have you seen a bicycle? -- indefinite reference Have you seen the bicycle? -- definite reference - We distinguish 3 main classes of determiners -- depending on their position in the noun phrase in relation to each other: 1) predeterminers: e.g. half, double, all (as in all the people) 2) central determiners: e.g. the, a, this 3) postdeterminers: cardinal (e.g. seven) and ordinal (e.g. first) numerals, few, many (as in the many passengers) - If there are more determiners in one noun phrase -- the order is 1) 2) 3) e.g. all the five boys - Some determiners help us to classify or identify, e.g. articles, demonstratives, possessives and some help to indicate quantity, e.g. numerals, quantifiers (many, much) I. CENTRAL DETERMINERS 1) the, a, zero - the definite and indefinite article are the most common determiners - relating definiteness to number we have the following system for C and U common nouns +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | countable | uncountable | |-----------------------+---------------------+----------------------+-----------------------| | | definite | the book | the music | | |---------------------+----------------------+-----------------------| | singular | indefinite | a book | music (zero art.) | |-----------------------+---------------------+----------------------+-----------------------| | | definite | the books | / | | |---------------------+----------------------+-----------------------| | plural | indefinite | books (zero art.) | / | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - singular countable nouns must normally have a determiner in front of them (except e.g. `parallel constructions' such as Man or boy, I don't like him. Or `vocatives' such as Look here, man.) - coordinated noun phrase heads can share a determiner placed before the first head, e.g. the boys and (the) girls; a knife, (a) fork and (a) spoon - the indefinite article a/an can be regarded as an unstressed numeral one: e.g. a pound or two = one or two pounds - a / an -> a bird -- an owl / an hour (the pronunciation, not the spelling determiners the form of the indefinite article) - the -> the same spelling, but two pronunciations - /*/ or /i/ !! when the articles are stressed for any reason (e.g. in slow speech and esp. in AmE), they are pronounced /d-i/, /ei/ or /aen/ - the indefinite article may mean `certain', `a person giving his name as', e.g. in A Mr. Johnson came to see you last night. 2) Other central determiners - are mutually exclusive, i.e. there cannot be more than one occurring before the noun head, e.g. a the boy, a some boy but all the many white houses a) demonstratives - this, that -- with singular C or U nouns -- this picture, that music - these, those -- with plural C nouns -- these desks, those tables compare: What's that thing over there? (a determiner) That's our computer. (a pronoun) b) possessives -- my, our, your, his, her, its, their c) wh-determiners -- which, whose, whichever, whatever, whosever as relatives, indefinite relatives or interrogatives e.g. Please come at noon, by which time I shall be back in my office. The woman whose book you reviewed is on TV tonight. They will disapprove of whatever music is played. Which house do you prefer? / What time is it? d) negative determiner no e.g. He has no car / no children. Some determiners co-occur only with sg C nouns: a) universal determiners every and each e.g. Each student is required to write two essays. b) non-assertive dual det. either e.g. There is no parking permitted on either side of the street. c) negative dual det. neither e.g. Parking is permitted on neither side of the street. Some determiners co-occur only with U and plural C nouns: a) general assertive det. some e.g. I'd like some bread / rolls. b) general non-assertive det. any e.g. We haven't any bread / rolls left. c) quantitative enough e.g. We have enough equipment / tools for the job. Note: When stressed in some circumstances, any can occur with sg. C nouns, as in: e.g. She will consider any offer -- however small. II. PREDETERMINERS - precede those determiners with which they can co-occur - are mutually exclusive (e.g. all both girls) - have to do with quantification We can distinguish the following sets: a) all, both, half b) the multipliers (double, twice, three times) c) fractions (one third, one fifth) d) such, what (as in Such a surprise. or What a fine day.) Note: such and what refer rather to quality than quantity, it's possible to combine e.g. all such problems Predeterminers in detail a) All, both, half - can occur before the articles (all the time), demonstratives (all this time) and possessives (all my time) - as they are themselves quantifiers, they do not occur with quantitative determiners: every, each, (n)either, some, any, no, enough - they can be used pronominally -- as independent pronouns (on their own) e.g. All / Both the students sat for their exam all / both passed. - can be followed by an of-phrase which is optional with nouns but obligatory with pronouns e.g. All / Both / Half (of) the students passed the test. All of them / Both of them / Half of them failed. + all -- occurs with pl. C nouns and U nouns e.g. all the books / all books; all the music / all music both -- occurs only with pl. C nouns e.g. both the books / both books (both, and also either and neither are dual -- i.e. they can refer to only two entities) half -- occurs with sg. and pl. C nouns and U nouns e.g. half the book(s) / half a book; half the music but not half music - half an hour = a half hour (little difference in meaning) but: half a bottle of wine (= half of the contents) a half bottle of wine (= a small bottle holding half the contents of an ordinary bottle) ! all and both, but not half -- can appear after the operator: e.g. The students were all / both sitting for the exam. All v. whole - all + noun with no article usually has generic reference e.g. All men are created equal. but All the men in the mine wore helmets. (=specific) but not always! : I will see all students at 11 a.m. - all (the) day / morning / week = the whole day / morning / week but in the negative: I haven't seen him all day. (= zero article) - with abstract nouns the whole is often preferable to all the e.g. the whole truth / distance - with proper nouns without the definite article e.g. all (of) Finland / London but the whole of Finland / London b) Multipliers 1) multipliers + def. art., demonstrative or possessive -- the multiplier applies to the noun so determined (quantity) e.g. twice / double the length (= a length twice as great) three times her salary (= a salary three times as large) 2) multiplier + indef. art., each, every -- the multiplier applies to a measure (frequency) e.g. once a day four times every year three times each year also with every: We stopped once every mile. once every three months twice every hundred miles c) Fractions (other than half) - are usually followed by an of-phrase and are normally preceded by a numeral or the indefinite article e.g. She read half the book. / She read a quarter of the book. She read two quarters of the book. He did the work in one / a third (of) the time it took me. III. POSTDETERMINERS - are used immediately after central determiners e.g. The two young women were successful. We distinguish the following classes: a) cardinal numerals-- e.g. my three children, the two books b) ordinals --ordinal numerals e.g. first, fourth; and the so called general ordinals: last, other, another, additional c) quantifiers -- e.g. many, few, plenty of, little, a lot of Where they co-occur, items from b) usually precede items from c) -- e.g. last few When there are more numerals in a noun phrase -- ordinals precede cardinals! -- e.g. first three e.g. the first two poems my last few possessions her other many accomplishments another three weeks Quantifiers - (a) few, many, several + pl. C nouns - (a) little, much + U nouns - comparatives -- fewer / the fewest;+ less / the least few v. little - with a they have a positive meaning -- e.g. I play a few games. (=several) She ate a little bread (=some) - without a they have a negative meaning -- e.g. I play few games. (=hardly any) She ate little bread. (hardly any) Other quantifiers - plenty of, a lot of, lots of + C or U nouns -- a lot of friends / time - a great deal of, a large quantity of, a small amount of + U nouns -- a great deal of time - a great / large number of + C nouns -- a large number of students Assertive v. non-assertive - some items are predominantly assertive -- plenty of, a few, a little - some items are predominantly non-assertive -- much, many