The NOUN
Classification 1. * Mouse, bus. Chocolate- concrete N * love, hate, indifference- abstract N 2. * John, Warsaw- Proper N (PN) * table, countryside, people- common N 3. * chicken, pencil, boy- count N * sugar, water, air- noncount N * * some Warsaws ( PN unique reference, no determiner or number contrast * * a sugar but some sugar * * table but a table ( count and uncount N allow different determiners ) * * sugars ( noncount N, no number contrast )
Count vs Noncount N * Difference in meaning: a) wine [ N- count ] - wines [ count ] b) paper ( one file of it )- papers ( documents, newspapers ) c) experience (knowledge )- experiences ( nasty and connected with feelings, situations, events for ex. 1st day in new job ) d) work ( job )- works ( paintings ) e) water - waters ( pl: flowing water/ water moving in waves ) f) chicken ( meal )- chickens (on the farm )
Partitive constructions - cons denoting part of a whole ( complex determiner construction ) * with both count and noncount N * sg or pl 1. Quantity partition ( how many/ how much of ) * noncount N: a piece of , an item of * pl count N : (idiomatic ) a flosk of sheep * sg count N: a piece of broken glass 2. Quality partition ( what kind of ) * count and noncount N: a kind of , a sort of * Amibiguity: two teas - 2 cups of tea ( quality p- how many ? ) - 2 kinds of tea ( quality p )
Reference - the relationship between N/ Pronoun and the real thing that is named by them ( the referent ) Determiners * det restrict the mening of a N by limiting its reference * 3 clases : 1) predeterminers ( half, all, doble ) 2) central det ( the, a , this ) 3) postdeterminers (seven, many, few ) Central det can't precede the predeterminer ( * the all seven dwarfs ) Central determiners * Articles: definte ( the ), indefinite ( a/ an, zero ) 1. Definite determiners : a) DEMONSTRATIVES this/ that ( + sing N ) these/ those ( + pl N ) b) THE POSSESIVES my, your, her c) THE WH- DET which, whose, whichever ( którykolwiek, jakikolwiek ) d) THE NAGATIVE DET no, none 2. Indefinite DET ( only with sg coun N ) : a) THE UNIVERSAL DET every, each b) THE NONASSERTIVE DUAL DET either c) THE NEG DUAL DET neither 2. like ZERO article ( noncount N, pl count N ) : a) THE GENARAL ASSERTIVE DET some ( weak, strong form - There' s SOME stranger ) b) THE GENERAL NONASSERTIVE DET: and c) THE QUANTITIVE DET: enough
Central, pre- end post det 1. There are several more complaints. 2. Both these two surgical dressings. 3. I need three times that amount of food. Which N fits in? 1. Not a great deal of experiments/ work / research has been done on this. Work, research- a grat deal + noncount N 2. Almost every detail/ information was wrong. Detail- every + sing count N 3. Neither computer / machine / equipment is suitable. Computer / machine - neither + sg count N
ARTICLES
* The definite article ( the ) marks the NP as definite eg the NP is identified uniquely in the shared knowledge of the speaker and listener * The indef art ( a/ an ) marks the NP as indef. * the zero art corresponds to the indef art but may also be definite. The DEFINITE article * Situational reference = share knowledge of the world. a) Pick up THE book from THE floor right now! ( referent physically present ) b) Cats can see in THE dark. ( shared general knowledge ab the world) c) They never go to THE opera, ( N in a broaden sense, not any particular building ) d) In THE hand (reference to the body, in PP THE instead of the possessive determiners ) * Identifying the uniqueness of the referent by grammatical factors: a) Anaphoric reference: Gazelles swarmed around the pool. The animals were thirsty. b) Cataphoric ref: The lions [ which lived there ] were watchful. * the referent is logically unique. a) The best actor ( N premodified by superlatives ) b) The first human there ( with ordinals ) c) the sole ( jedyny ) / only concern( only one ). The INDEFINITE article * Used when the referent is not unique. * A man and a woman wanted to see you, and the man was angry. Sb/ sth mentioned for the 1st time. * Tom has fractured a rib. * * Sue has bumped a head. Multipe body parts can be indefinite. * a - one they have a child. A mile and a half. ( not in phrases of measure ) Half an hour. 100 euros a day. ( no quantity )
ZERO article - indefinite * I bought myself 0 presents ( pl count N ) * Sue served us 0 water. ( noncount N ) May be replaced by some./ any to express quantity. * Sue served us cakes and coffee. * Sue served us cakes and some coffee. SOME = LITTLE ( count) / FEW ( noncount ) ZARO article - definite * Sue is ( the ) chairperson this month. - sg count N: when the NP is a unique role/ task * “ Crew deserts ship in harbour “ - in newspaper headlines * In idiomatic expressions relating to common experience. ZERO article - IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS * go to bed, go home, on stage, go to school - Quesi - locatives * in hospital ( institution ) / in the hospital ( building ) THE = literal physical location match idiomatic expressions and definitions
IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS * travel by car, send sth by post - transport/ communication ` BY - phrases ` * at dawn, by night, after dark, in winter - time expressions/ PP with AT, BY, AFTER, BEFORE, IN * have breakfast/ dinner - meals, the = particular meal * have cancer/ influenza / diabetes - illnesses ( technical medical name ) * have ( the ) flu/ hiccups / measles/ mumps - less technical names BUT a cold ( but catch cold ), a fewer / a headache / a temperature * on foot , by heart, by reason of ZERO article - abstract N * She showe me a great kindness. - the N is modified ( a partitive construction ) Proper N * John, Berlin, the Church ( names of places , specific people, institutions ) * Monday, May, Christmas ( seasons, festivals ) * The New York Times ( PN with premodifying items ) PN : grammatical features * * The Warsaws - no det or number contrast, the referent in unique. Exception : a few places with the same name ( Santa Fes ) * * The better University College London. - grammatically invariant- can't be graded or modified by degree adverbs. * At Christmas * * At the Christmas - seasons and festivals ( no ART ) * I always rest on Sundays. - pl repetition of sth during that time. * John Smith * * John Smiths * The Smiths - no number contrast . Except married couples, families * Every city should have a Hyde Park. - metaphoric use * The India of Irving is a country of contradictions. - Partitive restrictive modification - det may be used. * Some PN require DEFINTE ART . * the pentagon vs pentagon ( PN vs common N ) * Exception: The Hague * the Queen ( PN as a title ), The God of Israel * the Netherlands, the Midlands * the Bahamas ( groups of islands ) * the Himalayas ( mountain ranges ) * the ( River ) Nile, the Suez Canal, the pacific, the Sahara ( Desert ). ( rivers, canals, expanses of water, areas of territory ) * the Isle of Man, the Gulf of Mexico ( geogr names: the N of N ) * the Tate ( Galley ), the Hilton ( theatres, galleries, major buildings ) * the Mayflower, the Titanic ( ships, aircrafts ) * the Economist ( journals, except if premodified : today' s Economist ) PN WITHOUT ART * these PNs reflect unique reference- John Smith, Mr, John Smith ( personal names ), * Mum, Dad, Uncle John, * Jupiter ( locational names: extraterrestrial ) BUT : the sun, the moon, * Europe ( continents ), * Great Britain ( of the UK ), Ontario (countries, provinces ), * Lake Huron ( lakes ), ( Mount ) Everest ( mountains ), * London, Fifth Avenue, Sears Tower ( cities, streets, buildings ) NUMBER- sg, pl ? SING- news, physics, mumps, dominoes, council ( collective N ) PL- scissors, socks, arms goods troops ( aggregate N - sumujące ), cattle clergy ( aggregate N ). Number * Ordinarily sg N : PN, noncount N, with- s / - ics endings ; collective N - either sg or pl * Ordinarily plural N: Binary N ( consisting of 2 parts ), aggregate N ( with indefinite number of parts ) ; N with separate parts can be sg ( socks ) ; Aggregate N - pl N in forms ( troops ), not in form ( cattle ) can be sg.
Gender * natural gender ( English ) vs grammatical gender ( Polish, German ) * N with personal reference in male- female pairs eg boy - girl * The female may be morphologically marked : actress, goddess * Dual gender - male/ female reference : friend * Common gender - may refer to male/ female or the gender in irrelevant * Collective gender - committee, the gender is irrelevant.
CASE
* 2 cases in English : the common case, the possessive/ genitive case * Case in personal pronouns : 1) Nominative: I, he, she 2) Accusative ( biernik ): me, him, her, us, them 3) Posesive: my/ mine, his, her/ hers, our/ ours, your/ yours, their/ theirs What's the gen of: a) cow's ( sg ), cows' ( pl ) Zero genitive for pl N ( ending in -s ) b) man's ( sg ) men's ( pl ) Irregular N c) chief of staff's ( sg ), chiefs of staff's ( pl ) N without pl inflection at the end. d) Dickens' / Dickens' s Change the following with the construction with the genitive: The people entitled to voting + the decision The decision of [ the people entitled to voting ]. The of- construction expresses possession - end weight principle. S' vs of- construction * The king's decision * The decision of the king - Semantically the genitive and the of- cons are similar BUT : different end- focus. * Some preferences: * John's shoelaces * My cat's whiskers - N of animate gender. * Somebody's shadow. * * Sth's shadow. - Animate vs inanimate N. * Geogr names and inanimate N implying human activity. | * the colour of the stone - inanimate N * The shadow of sb. * The shadow of sth. * The cover of the book. Grammatical function : determiner * The black dress. * Sue'sblack dress. * * The Sue's black dress. - The genitive function like central definite det. * My ( Possesive Det ) cousin's ( Genitive ) black dress. The genitive is a phrase with its own det. [ My cousin's ] black dress. The structure of following NPs 1) Both the girls' success. 2) Both the girls's parents. - The items preceding the genitive: predeterminer + central det ( art ) The predet may relate either to the genitive N ( 1 ) or to the head N ( 2 ). 1- “ both “ modifies the N “ girls' “ 2- “ both “ modifies the N “ parents “. Grammatical function : modifier 1) My cousin's black dress. 2) A women's club. - The art in ( 2 ) relates not to the genitive but the head N. The genitive in ( 2 ) functions not like det but like modifier with a classifying role. The independent genitive * John's coat was the only coat that was left. * John's 0 was the only coat that was left. - The N may be ellipted if the context is clear. * the covers of novels were white but the covers of short stories were red. * The covers of the novels were white but those of short stories were red. - That/ those replace the N in of- constructions. The post- genitive/ double genitive 1) Tom's sister is coming to lunch. 2) A sister of Tom's is coming to lunch. ( 2 ): “ one of Tom's sisters “ - Post- genitive: a partitive of- construction. Adjective Specific vs generic reference * The whale is an endangered species. - reference: generic, definite. * The whale had beached itself. - reference: specific, definite. * A wallet is for keeping money in. - ref: generic, indefinite. * A wallet was lying on the desk. - ref: specific, indefinite. Specific vs generic * Velvet is an excellent material for curtains. - ref: generic, zero art * Generic NPs: - usually “ the “ + sg count N, - “ a “ + sg count N, - “zero “ + pl count N, - “ zero “ + noncount N.