A Contrastive Analysis Of The Use Of Definite Articles In English Scientific Texts And In English Literature

T h i s p a p e r i s a c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e p a p e r by l h o f e s s o r I~AMSEY on t h e u s e o f t h e d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e I n E n g l i s h . P r o f e s s o r Kramsk~y f o u n d t h a t t h e d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e I s l e s s u s e d i n n e w s p a p e r s t h a n I n s c i e n t i f i c t e x t s , and i s l e s s u s e d I n l i t e r a r y t e x t s t h a n I n n e w s p a p e r s . Our analysis of English scientific texts led us ~o propose a theory which distInguishes In sclentiflc texts two d i f f e r e n t t y p e s of p r o p o s i t i o n s : t h o s e w h l c h o o n v e y t h e s c i e n t i f i c m e s s a g e o f t h e a u t h o r , 1 . e . t h e new t h e o r y o r p o l n t o f t h e o r y h e p r o p o s e s ° These propositions we call the language propositions In the t e x t . t h o s e w h i c h a r e u s e d t o e x p l a i n , i l l u s t r a t e a n d comment on t h e l a n g u a g e p r o p o s i t i o n s . They h e l p t h e r e a d e r u n d e r s t a n d a n d a p p r o v e o f t h e a u t h o r * s new I d e a s . These we c a l l d i s c o u r s e p r o p o s i t i o n s . The d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e I s u s e d An t h e s e two t y p e s o f p r o p o s i t i o n s I n s d i f f e r e n t way: In language propositions, the definite article introduces the terms or expressions used to designate the concepts operative for the analysis presented by the author. I n d l s c q u r s ~ p r o p o s i t i o n s , t h e d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e i s u s e d t o i n t r o d u c e t h e t e r m s o r e x p r e s s i o n s w h i c h d e s i g n a t e t h e e x a m p l e s , I l l u s t r a t i o n s w h i c h t h e a u t h o r r e f e r s t o i n o r d e r t o e x p l a i n h i s t h e o r y t o t h e r e a d e r .