LL-L "Morphology" 2003.05.10 (04) [E]

Sun May 11 02:22:34 UTC 2003

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L O W L A N D S - L * 10.May.2003 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Morphology

Dear Lowlanders,

I would like to revisit the topic of nominal articles with specific
reference to names, and I would be interested in your information and
ideas.  I will write this in English only, because this is somewhat long
and a little "technical," and I would like to reach as many of you as
possible.  This does not mean that you cannot use other languages to
respond.  If you use other languages, I will later send out an English
summary.

As you probably know, articles are a somewhat difficult topic, because
it has rather complex morphological, syntactic and semantic aspects to
it, also because articles are used by a minority of the world's
languages, though by the majority of Indo-European languages (among them
the Slavonic ones being in the "article-deprived" minority), and
learners of Slavonic, non-Indo-European and non-Semitic languages tend
to have a difficult time learning proper use articles, including that in
our Lowlands languages.

By and large, the use of definite and indefinite articles in the
Germanic languages, including our Lowlands ones, is consistent.
Differences exist in the area of using articles with names.  I will
limit this discussion to the use of articles with personal names for
now.  In most cases this also includes nouns used like personal names,
especially kinship terms used like names (Father, Mother, Dad, Sis,
etc.)

In English, you may use articles -- both definite and indefinite -- with
personal names to create a distinction or contrast; e.g.,

(1) "Is that the Nancy that you told me about last night?"

(2) "No, it's the Miss Smith in my office, not the one in High Street."

(3) "We have a Justin in our rugby club, too ... oh, and two of them in
my math class."

(4) "There's a call for a Mr. Appleby. Is there a Mr. Appleby here?"

Within other contexts, it is ungrammatical to use articles with names.
However, probably related to it is the assumedly equally limited use of
demonstrative pronouns with names; e.g., "He dates that Jenny Brewster"
or "That Jeremy is a real jerk."

In some languages you are *required* to use articles with names (but
never in the vocative case, i.e., in addressing a person, I believe),
for example in Portuguese (at least in Iberian Portuguese); e.g.:

(5) Janto com o Antonio.
(I-dine with the Anthony.)
I dine with Anthony.

(6) O Paolo Rocha, a Manuela Silva e a Senhora Dona Maria da Graça
tiveram um desastre.
(The Paul Rocha, the Manuela Silva and the Ms. Maria da Graça had an
accident.)
Paolo Rocha, Manuela Silva and Mrs. Maria da Graça were in an accident.

Similarly in Greek; e.g.:

(7) `O Takys eínai anoixtý.
(The Takys is naughty.)
Takis is naughty.

(8) `O kýrios Maragkós dén eínai euxaristiyménos.
(The Mr. Marangos not is satisfied/happy.)
Mr. Marangos is not satisfied/happy.

In other languages, using articles with names is common but not
mandatory, as in Catalan, where the masculine definite article _el_
changes to _en_ before a consonant, *only with proper names*; e.g.:

(9) (En) Pere és metge i (la) Marta és professora.
((The) Peter is physician and (the) Martha is teacher.)
Peter is a physician, and Martha is a teacher.

(10) (El) senyor Puig és català.

((The) Mr. Puig is Catalan.)
Mr. Puig is Catalan.

Articles are more likely to be used for the sake of emphasis or
distinction; e.g.,

(11) No, senyora; jo sóc en Joan i ella és la Maria.
(No, madam; I am the John and she is the Mary.)
No, Ma'am. I am John, and she is Mary.

In Standard Castilian (Spanish), articles are used only if there is an
intermediate title, classification or adjective; e.g., _el señor Silva_
(the Mr. Silva) 'Mr. Silva', _el amigo Gómez_ (the friend Gómez) 'our
friend Gómez', _el gran Cervantes_ 'the great Cervantes'.

In German, the use of articles with names tends to be more widespread in
non-formal and dialectal varieties, often corresponding to possible
'that' or 'our' in English; e.g.:

(12) (Der) Wilhelm ist geizig.
((The) William is stingy.)
(That) William is stingy/cheap.

(13) (Die) Frau Müller ist ganz freundlich.
((The) Mrs. Miller is whole friendly.)
(That) Mrs. Miller is rather friendly.

(14) Heute kommt (die) Kathrin zum Mittagessen.
(Today comes (the) Catherine to the lunch.)
(Our) Catherine will come for lunch today.

The usage is similar in the Lowlands Saxon (Low German) dialects of
Germany; e.g.:

(15) (De) Willem is knickerig.
((The) William is stingy/cheap.)
(That) William is stingy/cheap.

(16) (De) Fro Möller is heel fründlich.
((The) Mrs. Miller is whole friendly.)
(That) Mrs. Miller is rather friendly.

(17) Vundaag' kümmt (de) Kathrin to Middag.
(Today comes (the) Catherine to the lunch.)
(Our) Catherine will come to lunch today.

Use of articles mit names is more likely to occur in cases of
topicalization; e.g.:

(18) De Willem, de is knickerig.
(The William, that is stingy/cheap.)
(As for (that)) William(, he) is stingy/cheap.

(19) Wat de Willem is, de is knickering.
(What the William is, that is stingy/cheap.)
(As for (that)) William(, he) is stingy/cheap.

In German, an article with _Herr_ 'Mr.' may be very formal especially in
plural forms; e.g.:

Less formal:
(20) Sind sie (der) Herr Hildebrand und (der) Herr Krämer?
(Are you (the) Mr. Hildebrand and (the) Mr. Krämer?)
Are you Mr. Hildebrand and Mr. Krämer?

More formal:
(21) Sind sie die Herren Hildebrand und Krämer?
(Are you the Messrs. Hildebrand and Krämer?)
Are you Messrs. Hildebrand and Krämer?

This is likely to be possible because _Herr_ also means 'master' or
'lord'.  It is not possible with _Frau_ 'Mrs.', which also ("only")
means 'woman'.

I suppose you could use this formal version in Lowlands Saxon, but I
would perceive it as _gääl_ ("yellow"), i.e., as ("High"-)German-derived
and thus sounds artificial or unnatural, as virtually all very formal
constructions do, since the language survived primarily in familial and
informal settings.

Here are my groups of questions:

Q 1: How widespread is the use of articles with names in other Lowlands
language varieties?

Q 2: Are articles used with names in Lowlands Saxon varieties of the
Netherlands? If not, is this due to Dutch influence, or is the use of
articles with names in Lowlands Saxon varieties of Germany due to German
influence?  If it is German-derived and relatively rare in Lowlands
varieties (and also in North Germanic, which has enclitic definite
articles), might German have develop it due to Romance influences (i.e.,
northward spread)?

Q 3: Might the (assumedly) relative scarcity of this device in English
(and Scots?) be due to Celtic influence?  (I believe that articles are
rarely or never used with names in Gaelic. I am even less sure about the
other Celtic languages of the British Isles.)

Any other relevant information and thoughts would be received
gratefully.

Thanks and regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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