Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Today we are going to
continue with explaining the definiteness and
indefiniteness system of English and Arabic. Last
time we spoke about the articles in English.
indefiniteness system represented in a and an and
the definiteness system which is represented in
the. We spoke about the use of these articles and
we terminated on the zero article okay which is
used before the names of diseases cardinal
numbers and a list of A, B, C, D. These don't have
any article, so it is zero. Could you read number
one, please? Could you read number one, please?
Number one. Okay, it's zero.
Heart disease and cancer kill millions every year.
heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension,
ulcer, constipation, et cetera. These diseases,
the names of diseases don't have any article. They
are zero, okay?
The zero article is also used generically to all
members of a class. We spoke about the generic
meaning and specific meaning last time. Okay. I
mentioned that A and AN plus the have generic
meaning and have specific meaning. I read a book
in linguistics. I read a book in linguistics.
Specific. Okay. I'd like to buy a book in
linguistics. Generic. Okay. Dogs are domestic
animals. What do you say about this? Dogs is
plural. It's preceded by zero article. Do we mean
specific dogs? Specific category or species of
dog? All dogs. So it is zero as you see and it
refers to generic meaning.
Once you distinguish one class from another, use
zero article. She likes cats, not dogs. But don't
say she likes the cats, not the dogs. Or a cat,
not a dog. No, she likes cats, not dogs. But now
if you look to the translation, dogs are domestic
animals. Once you translate to Arabic, do you find
the two languages are of the same system of zero
articles or of definiteness and indefiniteness
here could you translate dogs and domestic animals
I
say الكلاب حيوانات أليفة but if you look to the
noun الكلاب it is of definite article أل التعريف
but in English once you translate it it comes out
with zero article I like cats I like cats. أنا أحب
القطط. Okay. So again, it is ال التعريف, the
definite article, which is translated here by the
zero article.
Cats, sorry, she likes cats, not dogs.
So we have definite article for both nouns, but in
English Yes It is zero in English now The
modifiers the noun phrase which which comes as a
modifier of a preposition mostly is of a zero
article I say, for example, at
war, and once you translate it into Arabic, the
modifier in Arabic has التعريف at war في الحرب in
danger في خطر أو في الخطر في الخطر both at peace
في سلام أو في السلام in needon fire addressed
In tears, on time, at sea, in love, on sail, at
lunch, in difficulty, on love. Okay? So you have
these modifiers of preposition phrases are
altogether of zero article. However, in Arabic, it
may be optional. It can be التعريف or can be also
zero article.
The zero article mostly comes with plural nouns.
Okay? After B. Most of my friends are teachers.
Most of my friends are teachers. Most of the
Islamic university students are women students.
Once you have where to be, the auxiliary B, then
the noun following it is of zero article.
Now, in headlines of magazines, newspapers, books,
labels, etc. We have functional morphemes omitted
because these are titles, the titles of papers, I
mean of papers or dailies or say magazines or etc.
We just want to write or writing the title of any
article or any news item We try to omit all
functional morphemes as much as we can. So the A
and the R are functional morphemes. Okay, so they
are omitted. I say captives freed last week.
Captives freed last week. The Palestinian captives
were freed last week. I say captives freed,
captives freed only. Okay. So try to sum up the
title as much as you can. Okay. Beware of dog.
Okay. Beware of dog. I don't say beware of dogs.
The S is plural. Dysfunctional morpheme. Okay. It
is inflectional morphine. So we omit it. Okay.
Entrance to parking. I can't say this is the
entrance for parking or of parking. Okay. It's
entrance to parking. as much as I can. I omit all
functional morphemes as much as I can, including
the preposition if necessary. But here the
preposition in this title is obligatory.
Entrance to parking.
I say for example, the university
prevents smoking in the university campus. I can
write a notice stating no smoking, no parking.
Okay, no parking. Instead of writing cars are not
allowed to park here, for example. So the language
of notices, language of titles of dailies,
newspapers and magazines are always very very
short. To have it like so, we omit most or all
functional morphemes. You see?
Now the
title
Okay, which refers to the rank. I say He was
appointed prime minister It is zero. I can't say
he was appointed a prime minister Or the prime
minister. He was appointed prime minister. He was
elected As president not a president Okay, he was
appointed king Okay, she was appointed queen. He
became prime minister. She was proclaimed queen
Okay Come brother, let's go home Brother
here is considered as a title. Okay The
zero article is used generically with proper
nouns, days, months, years, seasons, games,
abstract nouns and materials. John attended the
meeting last Monday. I say all weeks, all days of
week are zero. Sunday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, these are zero. Names of
months, January, February, March, April, May,
June, July, it is also zero. Zero article. Seasons
are also zero. Autumn, summer, winter, fall. Okay,
it is spring, it is zero.
Okay, I like to watch rugby and football matches
if you look to the Games here Names of games. They
are also zero. Okay, so all games of sports are of
zero article Meals
I say lunch Breakfast dinner It's zero
Materials, wood, iron, copper, zinc, tin,
these are also zero. All materials are zero.
Colors, black, white, metallic, pink, green, it is
zero. However, the adjectives of these altogethers
are with articles either a and it's that he she
bought a golden ring a golden ring gold golden
golden he
made a wooden door a wooden door wood without
wooden adjective Okay Paper is made of wood paper
Generic الورق كل الورق is made of wood خشب كل
الخشب Okay But here if you look to English and you
see the function of the zero article you find that
Zero article appears in these forms in English
while in Arabic it is mostly translated with
التعريف I like to watch rugby and football match
Paper
is made of wood يصنع الورق من الخشب الورق الخشب
He's a man of principles He's a man.
He's a man.
He's a man. He's a man. He's a man. He's a man.
He's a man. He's a man. He's a man Okay, these
abstract nouns are always of zero article Okay We
have also zero article before plural and
uncountable nouns when talking about things in
general I like tomato I like tomato Any type of
tomato is okay. So it is zero because tomato here
refers to generic meaning or specific meaning? It
refers to generic meaning. Okay. I like cakes.
Which cakes? It is generic. Okay. Milk is good for
you. Which type of milk? So it is generic. Okay.
In this case, it is zero article.
Now names of countries, towns, streets, languages,
magazines, airports, stations, and meals are of
zero article. I had lunch with John. But in Arabic
I say, تناولت طعام الغداء الغداء مع John. طعام
الغداء. Okay, construct a statement. I had lunch
with John. So lunch. I ate biscuits at King Cross
station. This is railway station in London. Okay,
I ate biscuits at King Cross station. I cannot say
at the King Cross station. Okay.
I ate biscuits at Cancro station while waiting the
10 o'clock train to Colchester. She speaks Arabic.
He lives at Duke Street. The name of street is
zero. Language is zero. Now Arabic, English,
Turkish. Russian Spanish it is zero. What's the
difference between English and the English?
English Yes, the two are nouns English and the
English but here what's the meaning?
Nationality English is a language while the
English is nationality. I say the British Okay.
The Portuguese, the Portuguese, this is the
Portuguese people nationality, Portuguese
language. Okay. The French, French language. Okay.
So you have to take care about the translation.
Now the use of that changed the whole meaning.
streets are of zero articles, railway stations,
airports, I say Heathrow Airport. Names of lakes,
when I say Tabaria Lake, Victoria Lake, okay? But
you can say the lake. The lake here can be either
generic or specific. Okay? But if you name it,
then it is zero. Okay? Before some places with
some forms of transport, I say at home, in bed or
to bed, at work, to work, at school, to school, by
bus, by plane, by car, by train, on foot. She goes
to work by bus. Okay, I can't say by the bus. All
means of transports preceded by the preposition by
or mostly in or on, they are mostly with zero
article. I was at home yesterday evening. Okay, I
was at home. I can say in Arabic I say كنت في
البيت. So once you translate using
the system of literal translation, you may commit
an error saying that أنا I am at the home. Okay. I
was at the home. What do you call this error?
Interlingual error or intralingual error?
Interlingual because it is derived from Arabic. I
say, what a beautiful class. What a beautiful
class. Could I say what a beautiful weather? Why?
Because weather is uncountable. Oh, what a
beautiful day. Okay, but I can't say what a
beautiful weather. What beautiful weather. Okay.
I say have a nice day. A nice day. One day, two
days, etc. It is countable. But have nice weather.
Okay.
So what beautiful weather. It is zero. Comes
always with uncountable nouns. What loud music.
Music is non-countable. Okay. What loud music. You
can't say what a loud music.
Yes.
Now, we'd like to touch Arabic. You see that
Arabic differs from English.
The indefiniteness system is overt. However, it is
covert in Arabic. We have an in English, but we
don't have equivalence for either a or n it is
zero okay it is not necessarily to have the same
translation okay how
could
you translate it into English
a kilo of apple okay I drove a
yes
it is 80 miles an hour 80 miles an hour But 80
miles per hour it is definite in Arabic while it
is indefinite I say 80 miles an hour an hour a
minute a day Okay I say I'm a teacher
I am a teacher. Okay. هو مهندس. So what is zero
for the professions and handicrafts, they are zero
in Arabic while indefinite in English. They are
preceded by the indefinite article. I say أنا
مسلم. I'm a Muslim. So you have to take care.
about this. Otherwise, you commit interlingual
errors. So if your students say, I am Muslim, what
do you say? Where's the error? I am Muslim.
There is an error in the noun Muslim. I have to
say I am a Muslim. Okay, so this mistake is
derived from Arabic. Okay. So what do you call it?
Interlingual or intralingual? Interlingual error.
Okay. I am a Muslim. So it can wrongly be
translated into this. I'm a Muslim or I am Muslim.
Sorry, I am Muslim. This is zero. This is zero,
which is wrong. English has overt indefinite
article with adjectives of religions and
professions and handicrafts. My dad is
a windscutter. Is a windscutter. Not windscatter.
Okay, I say Topargy in Arabic or Banna. Okay.
Mason then. Okay. So my dad is a Mason. In Arabic,
it is zero. In English, it is indefinite. Okay.
You know, this is because Arabic indefiniteness is
covert. The Arabic indefiniteness is zero. Okay.
The nonation which we have in Arabic refers mostly
to what is called emphasis, not indefiniteness.
Okay.
Now we've
seen that Once you express about any any any sense
or any meaning which refers to the sense of any
Okay, or the name mentioned for the first time It
is zero in English. It is sorry indefinite in
English A or N However in Arabic it is zero في يوم
من الأيام كان هناك ملك كان
هناك ملك Okay so now once you translate this into
English you say once upon a time there was a king
you add the overt indefinite article a this comes
out with positive interference or negative
interference negative interference because your
students mostly omit The indefinite article a they
say they say once upon a time there was king Okay,
so this derives from arabic it is Interlingual
error interlingual error. Okay The earth is like
It's like a bone. This is english Okay, the room
is like a square
Okay, so assequire in English While in Arabic
المربع. So we don't have Because the two languages
are different Arabic as you know is semantic
language While English is Indo-European So we
don't have parallel system Okay, what is
indefinite here must be indefinite in the other
language. No الغرفة
The Rome is like a square. Okay. It is indefinite
in English while definite in Arabic. So we don't
have productive rules for translation here. You
have to understand the structure of English and to
be very, very aware of the structure of your
Arabic. The translator must be aware of grammar,
the grammar of the two languages which he or she
translates to. Okay? It is not limited to a number
of vocabulary you have in your mental dictionary.
Okay? You have to be familiar with the structure
of the two languages. Otherwise, you commit
serious errors. Again, the syntax and the word
order of language. Once you translate, you have to
know that Arabic has more than four word orders,
while in English we only have one word order okay
subject verb object however in Arabic we use verb
subject object or subject verb object or I say for
example verb object subject we have I say كتب
الولد الدرسة الولد كتب الدرسة الدرسة كتب الولد
Okay. So we have nearly four word orders or maybe
five if we add the cliticized system.
This is a clitic. Okay. So we nearly have five
word orders in Arabic while in English we have
only one. Okay. So once you translate, which one
of these word orders could you use? The one which
must be used here is the canonical word order of
Arabic, which is verb, subject, object. Once you
translate into Arabic, you have to begin with the
verb. This is more adequate than using the
subject. Because according to some Arabic
grammarian schools, they say the subject here is
called, once I say, زيد كتب الدرسة. زيد كتب
الدرسة. I say زيد is subject. But you say
according to traditional Arab grammarians,
you say that this is a topic. Topic يعني مبتدر.
The most effective word order is the canonical one
verb subject object okay, so you see Once you
speak about the definiteness or indefiniteness
system, you find differences between the two
languages. If you look to word order, you find
differences. If you look to any structure, like
prepositions for example, like the structure of
nouns, the plural of nouns, etc, you find the
differences. Inflection system Arabic is different
from English as we've seen. So once you translate,
you have to be very careful and very cautious. in
your translation because the structure in both
languages are complete is completely different
okay so you have to take care of the definite and
indefinite articles what is available in English
may not be available in Arabic so this is why your
students commit serious errors once using the
articles a or n or the most of the time you find
them add or put the Okay, the definite article
there before any noun before abstract nouns
material nouns meals names of sports names of
railway stations airports streets countries, why?
Why is this? Because in Arabic they are definite
So you find them translated into English using the
definite article, the. Okay. So you have to be
very careful. You have, once you teach English to
the students, you have to let them be familiar
with the use of the, using activities. Okay. Or
games that are based on fun. You have to teach
such articles contextually. You have to teach them
inductively. Don't use formal teaching. Don't
teach formally or deductively. Try to use games
that make or that increase what's called
motivation and competition inside the class. The
more you develop motivation among your students,
the more they understand, okay? The more you use
competitions, the more they understand. The more
you let them speak, they will understand in a very
shortcut way. However, explaining the articles by
you yourself without letting your students
participate, this means that they may understand
within the class and once they reach the gate of
the school, they forget everything, okay? So try
to explain such articles or such grammatical items
communicatively, contextually, okay? And better to
divide the class into groups, either large classes
or small classes, just to have what is called
competition inside the class. Use the system of
rewording as well. Okay, just to encourage them
speak, prepare, answer, compete with each other.
Okay, so take care of that. Thank you. That's it
for today.