Today we are going to see just a new chapter and
this is about definiteness and indefiniteness in
English and Arabic. We are going to see the
definiteness system how nouns are defined in
English and Arabic. Definiteness is available in
all languages, but some languages have overt systems
and some other languages have covert systems.
Chinese, for example, does not have any overt system.
There are no equivalents for "a" or "n" or "the" or any
article of definiteness or indefiniteness in any
in a language like English. So Chinese does not
have articles. It has only zero articles, covert
articles. Arabic has no articles, no indefinite
articles, but it has the definite article "ال" however
in English, we have the overt system, the
indefiniteness and definiteness system "a" and "n", this is
the indefinite article, and "the" plus the zero
article. Today we are going to navigate on the
definiteness and indefiniteness systems to
discover its secrets, how definiteness and
indefiniteness are constructed in English and
Arabic. So we need to touch the indefiniteness
system first. We mean, the morpheme "AN". This is
one article. "A" and "N" are one article. It is
indefinite article. However, "A" and "N" are
allomorphs of the same morpheme, the indefinite
article. Okay? This is used in English to single
the ideas expressed by the noun directly following
it. Once upon a time, there was a king. Once upon
a time, once upon a time, there was a king. A king
here is preceded by the indefinite article "A"
because it refers to a single idea. Okay, once
upon a time, there was a king, the king was named
Shahrayar. So once you repeat the same thing, it
must be preceded by the definite article "the".
Okay? The indefinite "a" and "n" article semantically
holds the sense of "any". The earth is like a ball.
The room is like a sequoia.
Any square, any ball.
So, "A" and "N" are used to express a
single idea that refers to one noun. And
semantically, it holds the sense of "any" as well.
So, the room is like a square, which square? Any
square.
Semantically, the indefinite article "A" and "N" has
specific meaning and generic meaning. So we have
generic or specific meaning. Once it refers to a
certain idea or object, then it is specific.
However, if you speak generically about
anything, any idea, this means that you refer, or
you have, or "A" and "N" have the function, the generic
function. I'm looking for a book on computer
technology. I'm looking for a book on computer
technology. Which book? Any book. So it is
generic. I need to read a story. Which story? Any
story. Okay. It's generic. Okay. I need to buy a
book in linguistics. Which book? Any book. So it
is of generic meaning. Now, I bought a book in
linguistics. I bought a book in linguistics. This
is specific. A certain book. Okay. For example, it
is "The Minimalist Program" by Noam Chomsky, for
example. So one book. I know it. It is specific.
Fine. I rented a flat. I rented a flat.
Which flat? One flat. So is this specific or
generic? It is specific. A guest came to visit us
last night. What do you say? A guest. Specific
guest. I know him. Okay.
Okay.
The indefinite article "A" and "N". It's also used with
singular countable nouns to refer to countable
nouns that have neither been mentioned in this
course before nor
situationally identified.
There was a queen named Elizabeth. There was a
queen named Elizabeth. Okay. A queen. Is it
countable or uncountable? Countable. Okay. It
refers to a certain person. Does it work here
specifically or generically? Specifically. So it
is of specific function semantically.
Now, in the sentence "There was a queen." Is the
noun mentioned before? No, this is the first time
you hear it, okay? So any noun, any concrete, or
any countable noun mentioned for the first time
must be preceded by "a" or "n," okay? But if it is
heard before, if it is mentioned before, then "a"
and "n" must be replaced by "the." Okay. I have a son
and a daughter. I have a son and a daughter. And
the son and the daughter are students at the
Islamic University of Gaza. Okay. For the first
time, it is "a", "a". However, for the second time, it
is "the," "the". Okay. We have a cat and a dog. A cat
and a dog. The first time, the cat and the dog are
very beautiful. Okay. Once I repeat, I replace the
indefinite article with a definite article there.
Okay. I'm reading a good book. I'm reading a good
book. The book is on linguistics. So, for the first
time, "a" book, for the second time, "the" book.
Now, the indefinite article indicates a class
relationship. Therefore, it precedes singular
countable nouns used as representative members of
the class. A cat can be beautiful, which cat?
Any cat, so here is it specific or generic? It's
generic. Okay, now, a cat is a representative. It
is a representative member of the cat class, all cats.
Plants are beautiful. I say, for example, "A tree is
beautiful." Which tree? Any tree. Okay. Now
once the noun is preceded or modified by
attributive adjective, preceded by an adjective, it
must be, or it can be preceded by "a" or "n." I say,
Christine is becoming a nice girl. I
can't say Christine is becoming "nice girl, a nice
girl" because this is adjectival. Adjectival now.
Okay. Hoda is becoming a clever girl, is becoming
clever girl, a clever girl. So we have here an
adjectival noun. Any adjectival noun accepts "A" or
"N" according to its morphological construction.
Either preceded by beginning with a vowel, or
consonant. In case of a vowel, it is "N." In case of
consonant, it's "A." For example, I say "university."
Is it "A" or "N"?
It is "A," a university. I say, "It's a university."
This is "Ya", consonant. Ah.
Okay. However, "ice cream," an ice cream. "Engineer"?
Okay.
Now, all professions and adjectives denoting
religions are preceded by "A" or "N". I say, "I am a
professor." I am a professor. I am a professor. So,
this is my profession. You are a student.
He is a mason. He is a windscatter.
He's a doctor. Okay. So all professions and
handicrafts are preceded by "A" or "N." My father is a
teacher. Your father is an engineer, for example.
Your dad is a doctor, your dad, accountant. Okay. He
is an accountant. Okay. He's an accountant. Okay. Your
dad. Okay. He's also an accountant. Your dad, a lawyer,
okay. He's a lawyer. He is an advocate. Okay. So we
have all professions and handcrafts are preceded
by the indefinite article "A" or "N". Okay, adjectives
of religions. I say "أنا مسلم," how could you
translate it? "I am a Muslim." She is, she is a
Christian. He is a Jew. So religions are preceded by
"A" or "N". Okay? Now, all expressions, or some
expressions of quantity and measurements, are also
preceded by "A" or "N". For example, a pair of shoes.
A pair. A. A little. We have "little" and "a little."
Which is larger than the other, "little" or "a
little"? No, no. A little is larger than little. A
few, a few, few, few. A few is larger than few.
Okay. A couple of minutes, a few, a hundred, a
thousand, three tablets a day. Now we speak about
the duration. Three tablets a day. I drove 80
miles an hour. So, day, hour, minute, are preceded
by the indefinite article "A" or "N." So, three tablets
a day. The child has to have the medicine by
taking three teaspoonfuls a day. Okay. Three
tablets a day, 80 kilometers an hour. The material
is $10 a meter. $10 a meter. Okay. The apples
cost two dollars a kilo, okay, a pound, so all means
of quantity, okay, or measurements, units of
measurements, are preceded by "a" or "n." Type
now the proper nouns, which are used as adjectives
in the sentence, in the singular proper noun used
as an adjective, must be preceded by "a" or "n." He's a
Napoleon. He's a Napoleon. She's
a Shakespeare. And she is like Shakespeare, he and
his courage is like Napoleon. Okay. So, if you use a
noun in place, or if you have a noun functioning as
an adjective, then it must be preceded by "A" or "N"
if it is singular.
Now, the adverbial expressions of time must be
preceded by "A" or "N." He sat for a while. He sat for
an hour. He sat for a day. He stayed for a month.
He stayed with us for a year. Do you get that? Do
you understand? Hold on for a minute. Hold on for
a minute. Okay. Hold on for a moment. Hold on for
a second. So, you have "A".
Now, greetings must be preceded by, must be
preceded by "A" or "N". I say, "have nice time," or, "have a
nice time?" "Have a nice time." "Have a nice day." "Have
a nice stay with us in Gaza." "Have a nice weekend."
Okay. "Have a nice exam." "Have a good exam." Once
you have greeting expressions, they are preceded
by "A" or "N." Okay. Now
"a"
"Merry Christmas to you, and a Happy New Year." It's
greeting. "Merry Christmas," it's preceded by "A." "Happy
New Year." It's also preceded by "A" because this is
part of greeting. "أتمنى لك عيدا سعيدا." Is this 189 00:19:11
context of the sentence or the context where these
indefinite or definite articles used, okay, I
say, "For expressions of time, I sat for a while." It
is zero in Arabic, while in English, it must be
preceded by the indefinite article "A". Hold on for a
minute. A minute.
Okay.
Hold on for a moment.
With greetings and good wishes. I say, "Have a nice
time."
It is zero. However, in English, it must be
translated by using the indefinite article "a".
"Have a nice time. Have a nice day. Have a good
exam. Have a nice stay here with us in Gaza. Have
a nice return journey to your country. Okay?"
Now, similes take "A" or "N" mainly after the particle
"as" or "like." "He fought like a lion." He fought like
a lion. I don't say "He fought like a lion." He
vanished like a ghost. So
I translate
it using the definite article. I
can say "اختفى كشبح." So it is not necessarily to
translate "A" and "N" with what is called zero article
in Arabic.
Okay.
But in English, you have to say, you can't say, "He
fought fiercely like the lion." Like a lion, okay? So
you have to take care about this once you
translate. Okay? The cardinal numbers, or the
cardinal number one replaces the indefinite
article "a" or "n" for emphasis. I can cross out "a" or "n"
and replace "one" instead, just for emphasis. "He
bought one suit and two shirts." One suit. I can't
say "a suit." I emphasize that he bought only one
suit. One suit. Okay. He bought one suit. Okay.
"One" here is for indefiniteness.
These, now, اشترى بدلة واحدة و قميصين, but it is
zero. Okay? So now, we have overt indefiniteness
system in English, represented, or translated, in an
"a" or "n", while in Arabic, we have zero indefiniteness
However, for translating, I cannot be bound to have
equivalence, okay? Because in Arabic, we don't have
indefiniteness system. It is covert. Some
sentences, mainly in similes, in some sentences,
we translate the "A" and "N" into in Arabic. So, if you
have this sentence to be translated into English,
you have to say, "He fought like a lion." We don't
say "He fought like the lion." It's not accepted
Okay? So, as you see, Arabic is different from
English. The two languages are semantically and
grammatically different from each other. Okay, now
the definite article. We have the definite article
"the" in English. It's equivalent to التعريف in
Arabic. But semantically, they are not the same. You
can't translate "the" التعريف by the in all the
times. You can't translate the into التعريف in
all times, mainly because the function of each one
of these definite articles in the two languages
differ from each other. Let's see the function of
"the" in English. Okay. First, you know that that
precedes the nouns, like "A" and "N." Okay, the noun
phrase.
It refers to the noun which refers to an entity
known by the speaker and the listener, meaning the
addresser and the addressee. If you, too, speak
about a certain entity, or a certain thing, known by
you all, then you must precede this noun by using
"the." Okay? "The professor is absent today." The
professor is absent today. You know, what do I
mean? Okay? I mean your professor, whom you are
familiar with. So I say "the professor." Okay.
"The prime minister greeted
the released prisoners yesterday." You know him.
Okay? So you say "the prime minister." Okay, I say
"the legislative council." You know what I, what do
I mean? Okay? You know what I mean? The
legislative council. How many legislative councils
are there in Gaza? One. So, it is preceded by
them. Okay.
So I say "the prime minister, the legislative
council, the parliament." Okay. The university.
You know, you know it. Okay. So once you speak
about an entity, or a noun phrase, known by the
speaker and the listener, then you use "the." Okay.
Now, if you have a noun, preceded by, or the
noun is followed by relative clause, relative
particle, complementizer, like "who, whom, whose,
which, that," then this noun, which precedes the
complementizer has "the." I say, for example, "the
man who was standing there is my uncle." The man
who was. I can say "man who was." Since you have "who"
as a complementizer, or as a relative pronoun, as
you name it, then it is preceded by the definite
article, "the."
"The car which I bought yesterday was very
expensive."
The car. I don't say "car which was." Since you have
"which," then the noun preceding it must be preceded
by the definite article there. Okay? Now, if you
have also a noun followed by a preposition phrase
Then it must be preceded by the definite article
that I say "the 10th of April." Of April is a preposition
phrase. The 10th of April. 10th is a noun. So, it
must be preceded by "the." Okay.
Okay.
"Most of the food was consumed." Why do we have "the"
here before the noun "food"?
Why does the noun "food" have "the"?
"Most of
the food was consumed." Now, you enter your kitchen,
and you find, you open the fridge, okay? And you
say to your mom, "Most of the food was consumed."
The food. The food is an entity known by the
speaker and the listener. So, it is there.
Now, proper names usually don't have any article.
"Ahmed, Mohammed, John, Mary, Chris," don't have any
article. Okay? However, some names of countries,
cities, or localities, are preceded by the definite
article "the." I say "the Sudan, the United States,
the Congo." I say "the West Bank, the Gaza Strip."
"The United Nations." The compound nouns are
preceded by the definite article there. We cannot
say "Gaza Strip." The Gaza Strip. I can't say "West
Bank." The West Bank. Okay? "The Arab, the United
Arab Emirates." Okay. Now, names of oceans, seas,
rivers, deserts are always preceded by the
definite article, "the." Okay? I say "the Atlantic,
the Pacific, the Nile, the Red Sea, the Euphrates."
Okay? So, once you speak about water, about seas
and oceans, you must use a definite article. البحر
الأبيض المتوسط. I say "the Mediterranean Sea." I
can't say "Mediterranean Sea." The Mediterranean
Sea. Okay.
I say "بحر الشمال", the North Sea. Okay.
Now, the definite article precedes the plural names
and family names followed by a noun. "The Johnson's
bought a new house last month." The family of
Johnson's. Usernames can be preceded by the
definite article there. Okay.
"I met the Masturbator family when I visited Japan."
The Masturbator family here, the surname is
preceded by the definite article "the." You have
this in the Arab Gulf countries. So, instead of
saying "Walid Amir," if I teach just in Qatar, or in
Saudi Arabia, or whatever, they must say "Dr. Walid
Al Amir," as a sort of respect, it seems. So, their
dialects do not accept zero article before the
surname. They accept always the ال التعريف. So
here we have this in English. The family name
can have the definite article, okay? Once used,
I mean, the plural name, the family name, the
plural name has
the definite article if followed by a noun. "The
Johnsons bought a new house." Okay? The Mustapara
family.
Mustapara plus family. A surname plus a noun.
Okay.
The definite article precedes things or entities
which exist in the universe as unique as when I
see the sun. The moon. How many moons are there?
One. How many suns? One. So, "the sun, the moon, the
Quran, the Holy Quran."
The plural nationalities must be preceded by the
definite article "the." I say "the Japanese, the
French, the British." So what's the difference
between "the English" and "English"? "English" refers to
language. "The English" refers to nationality. Okay.
So, we as Palestinians, is it available to say
"Palestinians" or "the Palestinians?" What's the
difference in translation? Once I say "the
Palestinians," we mean that we are people, we are a
nation confessed by all people. However, if we say
"Palestinians," like the CNN, or our enemies call us,
this means that we refer to gangs, or groups of people
that cannot be identified as a nation. Okay? So,
you as Palestinian translators must say about
yourselves as "Palestinians" or "the Palestinians?"
The Palestinians. Okay?
So, this is taken once you translate from English
to Arabic. From the BBC, you must use what is
called "managing in translation." Okay, insert your
own beliefs, your own ideas.
Now, we have also the abstract adjectives, used as
nouns. Abstract adjectives. The rich must
give money, or give donations, to the poor, to the
needy. You must be highly kind to the aged.
The "poor" is an adjective. It stands here in place
of a noun. So, it must be preceded by the definite
article there.
Okay. So "the 413 00:39:49,
Now that precedes the object in the immediate
situation use.
That precedes the object in the immediate
situation use. Now I need to cover my eyes and you
need to warn me about the steps. Okay. You say
mind the gap or mind the stairs. Mind the steps.
Mind the gap. This is immediate situation use. So
it precedes the object in the immediate situation
use. Who's going to mind? Someone you this is a
subject so we speak about the object mind the gap
the gap is an object it is used here the in the
immediate situation mind the gap mind the steps
mind the stairs okay mind the cup okay
mind the cup you see
Now, don't go there. The police are looking for
you. The police. The, because it is immediate
situation. It's plural. You see? So, next time we
are going, we need to terminate here and next time
we are going to complete with a zero article and
need to touch Arabic and make a comparison or
contrast between the two languages. Okay, that's
it for today. Thank you.