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The word the functions primarily as a definite article in the grammar of the English language. "The" is the most common word in the English language.*
Etymology
Linguists believe that the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages (Proto-Indo-European) did not have a definite article. Most of the older languages do not have definite or indefinite articles; there is no article in Latin, Sanskrit, or in conservative Indo-European languages like standard Russian, as can often be seen when inexperienced east European natives write in the English language. Classical Greek has a definite article, but Homeric Greek did not. In the etymologies of these and many other languages, the definite article arose by a demonstrative pronoun or adjective changing its usage; compare the fate of the Latin demonstrative ille in the Romance languages, becoming French le, la, l' and les, Spanish el and la, and Italian il and la, among others. The and that are common developments from the same Old English system. Old English had a definite article se, in the masculine gender, seo (feminine), and þæt (neuter). In Middle English these had all merged into þe ( or later ye, where the letter Thorn þ/y = th), the ancestor of the Modern English word.
Use and pronunciation
"The" has variable pronunciation. It is generally pronounced with a long e (IPA /i:/) before a word starting with a vowel, and with a schwa before a word beginning with a consonant. However, to emphasise the importance or truth of its following word, it can be pronounced with a long e anywhere, in which case it essentially acts additionally as an adjective synonymous with "pre-eminent", as in "the hospital for back problems". In written form, in the absence of pronunciation, the in this sense is often italicised or otherwise emphasised, although in some written expressions, such as "the novelist of middle-class despair", and some spoken contexts (e.g. advertising) it can stand without emphasis since the context is assumed to be clear. For adverbial use it appears twice, each time before a comparative adjective or adverb to denote a commensurate relationship, as in "the more the merrier": this usage derives from Anglo-Saxon þȳ, which is instrumental case and means "by means of the".
The word the is common in book and movie titles. Such titles are often listed invertedly, such as French Connection, The, for convenience for people looking for a title. (The same happens with the indefinite articles a and an).
In Middle English the (þe) was frequently abbreviated as a þ with a small e above it, similar to the abbreviation for that, which was a þ with a small t above it. When the letter Thorn evolved into a y shape in latter Middle English and Early Modern English, the abbreviation similarly changed to a y with an e above it. This can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the King James Version of the Bible in places such as Romans 15:29.
Reduction and omission
In some Northern British dialects of English, the is pronounced as dental * or as a glottal stop, usually written in dialect dialogue as t'; in some dialects it reduces to nothing. This is known as definite article reduction; see that article for further details.
In informal writing, such as notes or diaries, the definite article and some other particles are often omitted, for example, "Must pick up prescription at pharmacy today."
In Indian English, which does not have the phoneme /δ/ (voiced dental fricative), because the native Indian languages do not have it, the is pronounced with the voiced dental plosive /d/ as /də/ (more commonly, /diː/). This is also true for some other dialects of English.
Examples
- Used to denote collective or idealised representatives: e.g. In the healthcare system, the doctor has responsibility for the patient's wellbeing or older-fashioned titles such as The White Man and the Indian or Social problems of the preschool child.
See also
External links
- January 10, 2006: 'Netizens decry ‘shame' of new 5,000 won bill' Confusion over lack of the word 'the' in new currency with the phrase 'Bank of Korea' - some people online believed the lack of the word 'the' to be an error, implying that the bank was only one of many.
- Low MH 2005: "The Phenomenon of the Word THE in English - discourse functions and distribution patterns" - a dissertation that surveys the use of the word 'the' in English text.
"The"