« Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain
Most interpretations of the absence of marked determiners in English are monolithic, insofar as they contend that all uses can be grouped under one heading, generally “zero article”. Some linguists argue that the expression “absence of article” would be more appropriate, yet do not question the vali...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires du Midi
2009-01-01
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| Series: | Anglophonia |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/acs/12379 |
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| _version_ | 1832579219869138944 |
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| author | Florent Moncomble |
| author_facet | Florent Moncomble |
| author_sort | Florent Moncomble |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most interpretations of the absence of marked determiners in English are monolithic, insofar as they contend that all uses can be grouped under one heading, generally “zero article”. Some linguists argue that the expression “absence of article” would be more appropriate, yet do not question the validity of the monolithic approach.In this article, we support the idea that a number of structures involving the absence of a marked determiner are indeed cases where no determination whatsoever occurs. This assumption is based not only on an observation of the quantitative operations at stake in nominal determination, but also of the close interaction between the determination of the noun and its ability to refer: where there is no reference, there is no determination, if only because the noun, which only acts as a semantic import deprived of its autonomy in discourse, is no longer a full substantive in such structures.But what this also reveals is that in a lot of cases, in fact in a majority of occurrences, the absence of a visible sign of determination does not entail a lack of referentiality, which implies that a form of determination is indeed at work, and that the term “zero article” is appropriate there.The stress on reference as the ultimate goal of nominal determination thus leads us to acknowledge the existence of two interpretations, not one, of the absence of marked determination : absence of article on the one hand, zero article on the other. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1ec7e526909e4101ac1a1daaa04b18da |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1278-3331 2427-0466 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2009-01-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires du Midi |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anglophonia |
| spelling | doaj-art-1ec7e526909e4101ac1a1daaa04b18da2025-01-30T12:33:30ZengPresses Universitaires du MidiAnglophonia1278-33312427-04662009-01-01137710010.4000/anglophonia.869« Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporainFlorent MoncombleMost interpretations of the absence of marked determiners in English are monolithic, insofar as they contend that all uses can be grouped under one heading, generally “zero article”. Some linguists argue that the expression “absence of article” would be more appropriate, yet do not question the validity of the monolithic approach.In this article, we support the idea that a number of structures involving the absence of a marked determiner are indeed cases where no determination whatsoever occurs. This assumption is based not only on an observation of the quantitative operations at stake in nominal determination, but also of the close interaction between the determination of the noun and its ability to refer: where there is no reference, there is no determination, if only because the noun, which only acts as a semantic import deprived of its autonomy in discourse, is no longer a full substantive in such structures.But what this also reveals is that in a lot of cases, in fact in a majority of occurrences, the absence of a visible sign of determination does not entail a lack of referentiality, which implies that a form of determination is indeed at work, and that the term “zero article” is appropriate there.The stress on reference as the ultimate goal of nominal determination thus leads us to acknowledge the existence of two interpretations, not one, of the absence of marked determination : absence of article on the one hand, zero article on the other.https://journals.openedition.org/acs/12379determinationarticlezeroreferencepsychomechanics |
| spellingShingle | Florent Moncomble « Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain Anglophonia determination article zero reference psychomechanics |
| title | « Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain |
| title_full | « Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain |
| title_fullStr | « Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain |
| title_full_unstemmed | « Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain |
| title_short | « Je ne suis pas un zéro ». Pour une distinction entre absence d’article et article zéro en anglais contemporain |
| title_sort | je ne suis pas un zero pour une distinction entre absence d article et article zero en anglais contemporain |
| topic | determination article zero reference psychomechanics |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/acs/12379 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT florentmoncomble jenesuispasunzeropourunedistinctionentreabsencedarticleetarticlezeroenanglaiscontemporain |