章振邦《新编英语语法》Lecture 7课件.pptVIP

Lecture 7 Determiners (II)—Articles 7.1 Generic and specific reference When we say the reference is generic, we are talking about any member representative of a class of people or things. All the three forms of article ( the definite article the, the indefinite article a(n), and the zero article) can be used generically to refer to the members of a class as a whole. the + a singular count noun : Galileo claimed that he had invented the telescope. The horse has been replaced by the railroad, the windship and the steamship. The zero article + plural or non-count nouns: An ox is a useful animal. My brother William is planning to be a lawyer. Definite specific reference (确定特指) implies that a person or an object can be identified uniquely in the context or according to the common knowledge shared by speaker and hearer. The definite article “the” is most frequently used in this sense. In the case of indefinite specific reference (非确定特指), the person or thing referred to is also a specific object, but is not definitely identified. This kind of referential meaning is most commonly expressed by the indefinite article (a/an). In certain contexts and situations the zero article can perform the same function. I have lost a button. I met an old man in the street. There’s a letter for you. A book I want has been acquired by the library. She put carrots in the stew. The streets are clean and are shaded with trees. Anaphoric Specific Reference 后照应特指 The word anaphoric means “pointing backward”. When what is referred to occurs in a previous context, the definite article the has to point backward for its meaning. Cataphoric Specific Reference 前照应特指 The word cataphoric means “pointing forward”. When the referential meaning of the definite article the is determined by what follows the article and the head, the article has to point forward for its own interpretation. It depends not on any referent that has occurred in the context but solely on