Subj : articles are a good subject
To   : alexander koryagin
From : Anton Shepelev
Date : Thu Oct 05 2017 00:18:26

Alexander Koryagin:

AK> We  haven't  talked of articles for a long time.
AK> It should be mended. ;)
AK>
AK> Which article should be before "heart" below?
AK>
AK>   1.  Meldonimum  is  a  drag  to   make   heart
AK>       healthy.
AK>
AK>   2.  Meldonimum  is  a  drag  to make the heart
AK>       healthy.  (A human have only heart?)
AK>
AK>   3.  Meldonimum is  a  drag  to  make  a  heart
AK>       healthy.

Although  it is easy for me to agree with the native
speakers in that "the heart" is the right choice, to
explain  why  is  quite  another kettle of cod.  Now
that I try to rationalize and verbalize my intuitive
understanding,  messems  the  sentence  answers  the
question: "Which organ of the human body does meldo-
nium  affect/stimulate/regulate?"   Since  it  is  a
choice of an element from a known  and  finite  set,
that  element  is well-definied.  "the heart" refers
to the general idea of the heart  (as  distict  from
the  brain  or the stomach), whereas "a heart" would
denote not the idea but the very real heart of  some
(undefinite)  man.   Think Platonic ideas and forms.
You need *a* keen mind to  understand  the  distinc-
tion.

Further to muddy the matter, bethink yourself of the
zero article in Mark Twain's reductionist  "What  is
Man?"

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 * Origin: *** nntp://fidonews.mine.nu *** Finland *** (2:221/6.0)

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