Subj : Old stuff
To   : alexander koryagin
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Wed Feb 16 2022 23:54:15

Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  The head is part of the body.

ak>  It can be understood that "This head is a part of 
ak>  this body" A criminal investigation. :)


        Archaeologists & criminologists may at times be called upon to identify various body parts which have been separated for whatever reason(s).  In such a situation, however, I'd say "xxx is part of yyy" as I did there.

        In my example I used "head" & "body" in a general sense... and as Anton has pointed out, "the" is often used in such a context.  When grammarians speak e.g. of "the article" or "the dictionary" they don't mean to imply there's only one they regard as worthy of serious consideration.  They believe that if their readers aren't quite sure what an "article" is they know how to look it up, and that they'll get +/- the same answer regardless of where they look....  :-)



ak>  And why not "a body"?


        I guess because it's already been taken.  In dialectical English it may mean a person, not necessarily identified... as in the Scottish folk song:

          If a body meet a body coming through the rye
          If a body kiss a body, need a body cry?



AH>  The capital of Canada is Ottawa, Ontario.
AH>  The President of the US remarked yesterday that... 
AH>  [blah blah].

ak>  Well, it seems, I see, "The" is necessary when there is no
ak>  definition before the countable noun and this noun defines
ak>  something unique. 


        Okay, I think you're on the right track....  :-)



ak>  In my case we will have "the" if we paraphrase the
ak>  sentence: <The author of the "Teach Youself Foreign 
ak>  Language, Olly Richards...> 


        The author of the "Teach Yourself Foreign Language Series"... yes, that is evidently the name of the series although AFAIK it includes only one book so far.  I had to check it out to verify that there's no "a" in the title, because foreign languages are countable whereas e.g. knitting & metal work aren't.  :-Q


        Adding to another of your examples:

          The composer of the "Moonlight" sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, named
 this work "Sonata quasi una fantasia per il clavicembalo".  The nickname was
 added by others who probably found it easier to remember &/or relate to.



        Taken alone, the words "author" and "composer" are not unique.  Neither are words like "capital" and "president".  We make them unique when we add more information... typically including proper nouns like their name, their official status/job title, &/or the name of at least one of their best-known works.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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