I have been examining several hundred examples of the use of ``the'' in a diverse corpus including a novel, business news, biomedical literature, equipment failure reports, poetry, song lyrics, and transcripts of decision-making meetings. These examples can be classified into six categories.
1. Mutually known entities: This category is for entities that are not previously mentioned or implied in the discourse but are part of the speaker's and hearer's mutual world knowledge. In
a place that is estranged from all other places in the world
readers know that there is a uniquely salient world. In
have the secretaries bring us some sandwiches
the participants know there is a unique set of secretaries for their group. In
the start air compressor lube alarm sounded
the writer and intended reader know about the alarm. In
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore
the writer and intended reader know there is a uniquely salient ocean; ``hungry'' is new information, determined by implicature.
2. Directly Anaphoric ``the'': This is the case where the definite noun phrase refers to something mentioned explicitly before and involves the same description of the entity that has been used before. Some examples are as follows:
The town itself is dreary; Otherwise the town is lonesome,
A federal agency has proposed a new standard for protecting the privacy of computer data, but the developers of a rival technique say the standard would allow
We examine a mathematical model for viral multiplication The model shows
It's not necessary that we do that before I give him the demo. I wouldn't mind doing the demo immediately.
The description in the definite noun phrase is often a truncated version.
In certain contexts there is a pretense of direct anaphoricity. If there is no previous mention, then the best interpretation often results from assuming the existence of the entity and assuming it is mutually known. This is common at the beginning of novels.
The town itself is dreary; not much is there except the cotton mill,
Here the existence of the town and the cotton mill are implicatures.
3. Indirectly Anaphoric ``the'': This is the case where the definite noun phrase refers to something mentioned explicitly before but does so by means of a different description. In
Paul Jain, Media Vision's founder and CEO, blamed the company's problems on
the definite noun phrase ``the company'' refers to Media Vision, but via a different description.
4. Bridging: In this case the entity has not been referred to previously, but its existence can be inferred from something that has. This was called ``bridging'' by Clark (1975). The previous reference to the related entity may be in a noun phrase or in some other word or phrase. In
not much is there except the cotton mill, the two-room houses where the workers live,
the existence of the workers can be inferred from the existence of the cotton mill. In
After an individual is infected with HIV, virus is typically found in the blood.
an individual is a human and humans have blood. In
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore
the shore is implied by the ocean. In
If we get squeezed, I'll eat the time that we lose
if ``squeezed'' is interpreted correctly as having a smaller amount of time, then ``the time that we lose'' is inferable.
In many cases part of a description is inplied by a previous mention, and part of the information must be assumed. This is the case of bridging with implicature. In
The town itself is dreary; not much is there except the cotton mill, the two-room houses where the workers live,
the houses can be inferred from the town; towns have houses. But the fact that the house have only two rooms is new information that must be assumed as an implicature. In
After an individual is infected, viran antigens are often undetectable during the long but variable incubation period.
the incubation period can be inferred from the infection, but the fact that it is long but variable is new information that must be assumed.
5. Determinative Definite Noun Phrases: These constitute the very common case where the existence of the entity can be inferred from the complete noun phrase that describes it. In
the incubation period of AIDS
we know that AIDS is a disease and hence has an incubation period. The full noun phrase itself contains all the information required to infere the existence of the referent. In
the process of acquiring speech
acquiring is a process and the ``of'' is the ``of'' of identity. In
the very center of town
a town is a region and hence has a center. In
the developers of a rival technique
we know about techniques that they have developers.
Determinative definite noun phrases can involve implicature as well. In
the tenants from the nearby farms
a tenant is a farmer that rents. Farms have farmers. The fact that those farmers rent is assumed rather than proved. In
explain the variable likelihood of transmission
transmission being an event has a likelihood. The fact that it is variable has to be assumed. In
the kingdom of the shore
a kingdom is a region ruled by a king, A shore is a region. The (metaphorical) fact that this region is ruled by a king is assumed as an implicature.
6. Generic Definite Noun Phrases: In this case the definite noun phrase provides a property and refers to the typical element of the set of all entities having that property, and is consequently uniquely mutually identifiable. Examples are as follows:
The normal human being is predestined to walk.
The consumer is making out like a bandit.
the suppressing capacity of the immune system
How many lambs might the stern wolf betray
An examination of 238 examples from this corpus showed that the distribution was as follows:
| Known: | 10% |
| Directly Anaphoric: | 26% |
| Indirectly Anaphoric: | 9% |
| Bridging: | 17% |
| Determinative: | 36% |
| Generic: | 2% |
There were slight genre differences. About 12% of the examples involved some sort of implicature.