The Functions of Articles in a Sentence

Articles are peculiar, semantically, syntactically and communicatively. The indefinite article, as a rule, expresses a classifying generalization (An elephant is a big animal). The definite article expresses identification or individuality of the referent of the noun (This is the book I’ve seen at the exhibition).The zero article develops the meaning of absolute generalization (Woman has not yet come into her own). Syntactically, the indefinite article is placed before a descriptive attribute, while the definite article is placed before a limiting attribute. Communicatively, the indefinite article is a signal of new, or important information, hence, frequent is its rhematic function. The definite article is a signal of the starting point of communication, of known or old, insignificant information, hence, frequent is its thematic function.

The indefinite article develops the following functions in a sentence (simple, composite), a supra-phrasal structure, larger discourse:

1. The classifying function (It is a table).

2. The descriptive function (with any kind of nouns) ( The was a coolness in the woods and a twilight. D. H. Lawrence. He saw an Italy of romantic ruins. Such a huge Paris. I saw a newJane).

3. The generalizing function (A young and presentable female always attracted him. J.Galsworthy).

4. The rhematic cataphorical function (A lady in a velvet jacket was sitting on the bench. J.Galworthy).

5. The petrified usage (in set expressions) (It happened all of a sudden).

The definite article develops the following functions:

1. The demonstrative function (Give me the (this, that) book).

2. The particularizing (limiting) function (The poetry of earth is never dead. J. Keats).

3. The generic function(The beautiful always moved him. Death is the loser, and life is the winner. E.E.Cummings).

4. The thematic anaphorical function (A lady in a velvet jacket was sitting on the bench. He recognized the lady. The stop-and-go light went down abruptly).

5. The correlative function (The more we study the more we know. The more we know the more we forget).

The zero article is a marker of generalization and dematerialization (Woman has not yet come into her own. W.S.Maugham. He crouched by a piece of broken house. R. Aldington).

Articles are extremely important compositionally, communicatively and psychologically. They participate in the communicative organization of simple and composite sentences, supra-phrasal units and texts. Articles can artistically alternate (He gathered a great bunch of flowers for “the lady in grey”. Lady in grey! Did she exist? Had she ever come at all? Or was she but the emanation of all the beauty he had loved and must leave so soon? J.Galsworthy).

The initial placement of the indefinite article is characteristic of traditional literature (Ch. Dickens, W.M. Thackeray). Here novels and stories open with an exposition, where the author is an omniscient being, who explains everything and prepares you for everything. In XX-th century modernistic literature (V.Woolf, K.Mansfield, J.Joyce, E.Hemingway, etc) we find no exposition. We are immediately drawn into the depth of the context (The door of Henry’s lunch room opened and two men came in. E. Hemingway. The Killers). Articles often indicate the mood of the speaker and create some attitude in the hearer (or the reader)(I collected men with interesting names. I already knew a Socrates. Sylvia Plath. The Bell Jar).

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