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Pre- and post- modification: Determiners and Pronouns Professor Sabine Mendes sabine.mendes@gmail.com. Determiners. Determine noun meaning. Think about how the meaning of a noun like book changes with different determiners: His book Her book That book
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Pre- and post- modification:Determiners and PronounsProfessor Sabine Mendessabine.mendes@gmail.com
Determiners • Determine noun meaning. • Think about how the meaning of a noun like book changes with different determiners: • His book • Her book • That book • The basic noun phrase often involves the combination: determiner + noun
Why so many determiners? • What’s going on? • What are determiners really about? • What is it that we are doing when we make selections from among this really large system of words?
Definite vs. IndefiniteGeneric vs. Specific • These terms are used to talk about the meanings of the various combinations of determiners and noun • The terms are used especially to separate out the meanings involved with the articles • Indefinite and specific: I bought an apple in the cafeteria. • Generic:An apple is a type of fruit. • Definite and specific:The apple on the table is for my lunch. • Generic: The apple is an important agricultural product. • Indefinite and specific: I bought some bread at the Market. • Generic:Bread is a staple food in many countries.
Nouns and articles for generic meaning • The + singular: The computer has changed modern life. • This form is considered more formal than the others--and is not as likely to be used in conversation as the plural noun: Computers have changed modern life. Master (1987) found in the sample that he analyzed that this form withthe was often used to introduce at topic--and came at the beginning of a paragraph and in introductions and conclusions.
Nouns and articles for generic meaning • Zero+plural: • Computers are machines. • Computers have changed modern life. • Probably the most common form for a generalization. It can be used in all contexts--including both conversation (Basketball players make too much money) and academic writing (Organisms as diverse as humans and squid share many biological processes). Perhaps used more in the hard sciences and social sciences than in the humanities.
Nouns and articles for generic meaning • A + singular: A computer is a machine. This generic structure is used to refer to individual instances of a whole group and is used to classify whatever is being discussed.The form is often used for definitions of terms. • It is also often used to explain occupations. My sister is a newspaper reporter. I am a teacher. • Use is limited to these "classifying" contexts. Notice that this form can't always be subtituted for the other: *Life has been changed by a computer. *A computer has changed modern life.
Nouns and articles for generic meaning • Zero + noncount: Life has been changed by the computer. The most basic meaning and use of noncount nouns is generic--they are fundamentally about a very abstract level of meaning. Thus, the most common use of noncount nouns is this use with no article for generic meaning.
Figure 4.1 • Things to Figure Out • Frequency of articles in each register type • Frequency across registers…how registers are alike or different • Reasons for the frequencies: why are there so many uses of the in academic writing?
Figure 4.2 Reasons the language of conversation is different from the language of writing = the + noun
A (indef. article)by JOEL BROUWERhttp://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/one_word/a_indef_article/ A selects one but implies many, and so casts a pall of anxiety over its noun. "I'm not sure I want a relationship," she says, and immediately I imagine her turning the pages of a gigantic catalog of relationships, debating which, if any, she might want.
A (indef. article)by JOEL BROUWERhttp://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/one_word/a_indef_article/ A is a wager, a leap of faith, "a joyous shot at how things ought to be," as Philip Larkin wrote in his poem "Home Is So Sad." "Sad" because the shot, Larkin's quick to remind us, so often falls wide. But A doesn't know that. It can't, because at the moment a joyous shot becomes the shot that fell wide, A's already moved on. A's irrepressible. A never looks back.A opens a restaurant, marries a sweetheart, places a bid, agrees to an experimental treatment. It's true that A never sticks around to see how the roll of the dice comes out, and maybe that makes A irresponsible, but at least A takes a crack at it. Say what you will, but A's an optimist.
A (indef. article)by JOEL BROUWERhttp://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/one_word/a_indef_article/ Teams of two A's will sometimes work together to broker an agreement of equivalence, either numerical or metaphorical, between two nouns. One A ushers in the party of the first part; another (sometimes in the guise of "per"), introduces the party of the second part and closes the deal. These arrangements often result in proverbs. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.A night with Venus and a life with mercury.A friend in need is a friend indeed.A little learning is a dangerous thing.
A (indef. article)by JOEL BROUWERhttp://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/one_word/a_indef_article/ A noiseless, patient spider,I mark'd, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;Mark'd how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.And you, O my Soul, where you stand,Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;Till the bridge you will need, be form'd—till the ductile anchor hold;Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.Walt Whitman - "A Noiseless Patient Spider“
A (indef. article)by JOEL BROUWERhttp://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/one_word/a_indef_article/ A is fundamentally public and populist. A has nothing to hide, which is lucky, because it couldn't hide anything if it wanted to. It can be attached to anything, but it owns nothing; its greatest power is its ability to grant universal access to its noun.Martin Luther King, Jr. told the crowd, "I have a dream." "I have" may have suggested personal possession, but the Amade abundantly clear to everyone that a dream is ours to share.
Reference categories • Another way that linguists talk about meaning is to focus on meaning in context….and the ways that whole pieces of communication are tied together. • As we communicate in speech and in writing… • sometimes we say things that point ahead to what’s coming next. • sometimes we say things that point back to what happened or was said before. • sometimes we talk about things that are happening right there as part of the conversation and we kinda just point at the person or object to indicate what we’re talking about. • These different ways of making connections are talked about in terms of “reference.”
Two Other Associated Terms • Cohesion: how grammar ties a passage together: using pronouns and other grammar to tie sentences together • Coherence: how conventional organization & cultural expectations tie a passage together: the storyline
Anaphoric • Looking back…. • Pronouns are used for anaphoric reference. They connect back to previous nouns. • (like in these 2 sentences: they connects back to pronouns) • The is often used for anaphoric reference, too.
Cataphoric • This type of reference looks ahead….you say something that anticipates something new.
Situational • The situations can be local and immediate: • In a classroom, we talk about the door, the chairs, the board, etc. • Larger settings: the sun, the moon, the president, the city council members
Number & Case & Gender • Number, case, & gender are old and traditional grammar terminology. • And these 3 terms are still very commonly used today to help us think about the characteristics of English. • However, because they were developed in analysis of languages like Latin and Greek the terms are not always a completely useful fit with English. So, we’ll proceed carefully.
Number Number = count = singular or plural nouns & pronouns Regular count nouns: book, books Irregular count nouns: child, children Number contrast in pronouns: I, we
Case Pronouns have more case forms than nouns. Subjective: she, he, I, we Objective: her, him, me, us Genitive: her, his, my, our Nouns have possessive or genitive case forms. Pat’s grammar students have questions about case.
Case • Case involves • changes in form to indicate changes in grammatical function. For example, a language can have one version of a word for the subject of a sentence and another version of a word for the direct object. These are often called “subjective” or “nominative” and “objective” or “accusative” case. • Other types are “dative” for indirect objects and “genitive” for possessive forms. • Well, now, what case forms do we have in English? Look at these sentences: • The teacher gave the homework to the students. • The students thanked the teacher for the homework. • English nouns do not change form when they move from one grammatical function to another. Subject forms are the same as object forms. • However, we do have noun forms for the possessive….the “genitive” case: • The teacher’s suggestions helped her students with their homework.
Figure 4.3 = teacher’s book teachers’ books
Important!!!!! You’ll sometimes read linguistic studies that use the term “case” for the “grammatical meaning” of forms. Just realize that the linguist does NOT think that English nouns have case forms but that when used in sentences noun phrases take on the meanings associated with subject or object position (generative grammar – Chomsky)
Grammatical Gender • “Gender is not an important grammatical category in English.” (p. 85) • English pronouns have gender based forms: she vs. he • There are no GRAMMATICAL gender classes for nouns. • WHAT?!! What about the difference between man and woman or boy and girl? Isn’t that gender? Those differences are in the meaning of the words not in anything to do with grammatical forms.
Gender Bias • You might need this information in your own academic writing since APA style requires that we avoid biased language in our academic writing. • You might also need to teach students how to use appropriate language in their academic writing and to understand the cultural values that lie behind these grammatical decisions.
When addressing a reader · NEVER assume that the person reading your story/article will be male. · If you do not know the gender of the person on the receiving end of a letter, write, “Dear Madam or Sir,” or “Dear Personnel Officer” but NOT “Dear Sir,” or “Dear Gentlemen” unless you know for sure who will be reading the letter. · As far as fiction goes, Charlotte Bronte did it best in Jane Eyre when she addressed her audience, “Reader, I married him.” What can you do? · Just keep it in mind. If you refer to a man by his full name, refer to a woman by her full name. · Use parallel terms (“husband and wife” instead of “man and wife”) · Eliminate gratuitous physical description. If you write fiction, just remember to avoid stereotyping, and instead focus on the personality of your characters. · We’re all talented writers; let’s use our creativity instead of falling back on old gender-biased usage!
Use the plural. 1. Biased: A nurse is trained to understand her patients’ emotions as well as physical symptoms. 2. Better: Nurses are trained to understand their patients’ emotions as well as physical symptoms. · Eliminate the pronoun or reword to avoid using a pronoun. 1. Biased: The average teenager worries about his physical fitness. 2. Better: The average teenager worries about physical fitness. · Replace the pronoun with one, he, or she, or an article (a, an, the). 1. Biased: The parent who reads to her infant cares for her infant’s intellectual growth 2. Better: The parent who reads to an infant cares for the infant’s intellectual growth. · Repeat a title rather than using a pronoun. 1. Biased: Ask a firefighter for help, and he will get your kitten out of the tree. 2. Better: Ask a firefighter for help, and the firefighter will get your kitten out of the tree. · Alternate male and female examples. 1. With this, be careful not to confuse your reader; don't bounce back and forth in a confusing way: Confusing example: A young child is often persuaded by advertisements to buy what he sees on television. When she goes shopping with a parent, she sees the product on the shelf, remembers it, and asks to have it.
Pronoun Types Personal PronounsI, me, you, he, him, she... Demonstrative Pronounsthis, that, these, those Possessive Pronounsmine, yours, his... Interrogative Pronounswho, what, which... Reflexive Pronounsmyself, yourself, himself... Reciprocal Pronounseach other, one another Indefinite Pronounsanother, much, nobody, few, such... Relative Pronounswho, whom, which...
300,000 nouns & pronouns per 1,000,000 words More pronouns than nouns 300,000+ nouns & pronouns per 1,000,000 words Many more nouns than pronouns Figure 4.7
