MSGID: 1:153/716.0 20dd2832   
   REPLY: 2:5075/128.130 bc4a687f   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AH>  The head is part of the body.   
      
   ak>  It can be understood that "This head is a part of    
   ak>  this body" A criminal investigation. :)   
      
      
           Archaeologists & criminologists may at times be called upon to   
   identify various body parts which have been separated for whatever reason(s).    
   In such a situation, however, I'd say "xxx is part of yyy" as I did there.   
      
           In my example I used "head" & "body" in a general sense... and as   
   Anton has pointed out, "the" is often used in such a context.  When   
   grammarians speak e.g. of "the article" or "the dictionary" they don't mean to   
   imply there's only one they regard as worthy of serious consideration.  They   
   believe that if their readers aren't quite sure what an "article" is they know   
   how to look it up, and that they'll get +/- the same answer regardless of   
   where they look....  :-)   
      
      
      
   ak>  And why not "a body"?   
      
      
           I guess because it's already been taken.  In dialectical English it   
   may mean a person, not necessarily identified... as in the Scottish folk song:   
      
             If a body meet a body coming through the rye   
             If a body kiss a body, need a body cry?   
      
      
      
   AH>  The capital of Canada is Ottawa, Ontario.   
   AH>  The President of the US remarked yesterday that...    
   AH>  [blah blah].   
      
   ak>  Well, it seems, I see, "The" is necessary when there is no   
   ak>  definition before the countable noun and this noun defines   
   ak>  something unique.    
      
      
           Okay, I think you're on the right track....  :-)   
      
      
      
   ak>  In my case we will have "the" if we paraphrase the   
   ak>  sentence:   Language, Olly Richards...>    
      
      
           The author of the "Teach Yourself Foreign Language Series"... yes,   
   that is evidently the name of the series although AFAIK it includes only one   
   book so far.  I had to check it out to verify that there's no "a" in the   
   title, because foreign languages are countable whereas e.g. knitting & metal   
   work aren't.  :-Q   
      
      
           Adding to another of your examples:   
      
             The composer of the "Moonlight" sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, named   
    this work "Sonata quasi una fantasia per il clavicembalo".  The nickname was   
    added by others who probably found it easier to remember &/or relate to.   
      
      
      
           Taken alone, the words "author" and "composer" are not unique.    
   Neither are words like "capital" and "president".  We make them unique when we   
   add more information... typically including proper nouns like their name,   
   their official status/job title, &/or the name of at least one of their   
   best-known works.  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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