differentiating between "the tiger, tigers" or "the kind of tiger or the tiger"

asked 2015-03-27 12:36:48 -0500

Greetings

I am a learner of English and at the same time studying English literature in university.

Would anyone possibly show me in which part of the book" Meaning-Based Translation by Mildred L.Larson", I could find some fruitful information- so that I can understand or distinguish between the difference between the sentences in 39 and 40 in the link above?

Or, I mean which of the following could be correct?- I, however, need a more readily way or sourceto understand them.

Please feel free to ask me any question

any comment or feed-back would greatly be appreciated

Cheers, nima

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answered 2015-03-27 20:10:43 -0500

usagi5886
61 ●2 ●6

Using just 'species' (for the sake of simplicity and consistency), the author's judgments can be summarized as follows:

(39a) the species of the tiger = (marginally) OK
(39b) the species of tigers = (marginally) OK
(39c) the species Panthera Tigris = OK
(40a-i) the species of tiger = ungrammatical
(40a-ii) the species of tiger we just talked about = OK
(40b-i) a species of tiger = OK
(40b-ii) that species of tiger = OK

As for why, all three forms in (39) mean Panthera tigris as a whole. In contrast, all instances of the words 'species of tiger' in (40) refer not Panthera tigris as a whole but rather more specific sub-species (e.g. Panthera tigris corbetti or Panthera tigris jacksoni).

In glancing down at the first sentence of section 3, it looks like the authors are going to go into more detail about their theoretical explanation for this pattern.

I hope this helps!

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First off, thanks. I am, however, wondering why while 40a-i is incorrect, actually, 40b-i and 40b-ii are correct? Meanwhile, what is the subtle difference between 39a and 39b? Eventually, what do you mean by the rem" marginally? and I am wondering what is the difference between 39a, 39b, and 39c?

learner_Nima ( 2015-03-28 10:47:42 -0500 )edit

Due to space restrictions, I'll answer separately: [1] "why while 40a-i is incorrect, actually, 40b-i and 40b-ii are correct?" The difference here is simply a matter of how English articles are used. 'the' sometimes requires a modifier (like in 40a-ii), but the same is not true for 'a' or 'that'.

usagi5886 ( 2015-03-29 00:41:17 -0500 )edit

[2] "what is the subtle difference between 39a and 39b? In (39a), 'the tiger' is a generic NP, where 'tiger' refers to the essence of being a tiger. In contrast, (39b) is plural, and 'tigers' is not generic but rather just means the collection of subspecies like Panthera tigris corbetti.

usagi5886 ( 2015-03-29 00:44:05 -0500 )edit

[3] "what do you mean by the [term] marginally?" I agree with the author's judgments here. Instead of (39a) or (39b), I would probably instead say just "the tiger". (39a) and (39b) are possible, but awkwardly formal and bookish.

usagi5886 ( 2015-03-29 00:44:28 -0500 )edit

[4] "what is the difference between 39a, 39b, and 39c? In terms of core referential meaning, they are more or less all the same. As mentioned above, (39a) and (39b) are kind of unnatural, whereas (39c) would be perfectly normal in an academic conversation about these animals.

usagi5886 ( 2015-03-29 00:44:39 -0500 )edit

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answered 2015-03-31 05:30:58 -0500

learner_Nima
3 ●2

Thanks. I would like to bestow my gratitude to those who present such invaluable exaplanations.

Meanwhile, would you please show me in a yet more readily way what the following mean?

Due to space restrictions, I'll answer separately: [1] "why while 40a-i is incorrect, actually, 40b-i and 40b-ii are correct?" The difference here is simply a matter of how English articles are used. 'the' sometimes requires a modifier (like in 40a-ii), but the same is not true for 'a' or 'that'.

[2] "what is the subtle difference between 39a and 39b? In (39a), 'the tiger' is a generic NP, where 'tiger' refers to the essence of being a tiger. In contrast, (39b) is plural, and 'tigers' is not generic but rather just means the collection of subspecies like Panthera tigris corbetti.

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[1] "the" means that the speaker believes the listener can uniquely identify the referent. In (40a-i), if the NP's intended meaning is a subspecies (like P. t. corbetti), then it's ungrammatical because, with just this sentence in isolation, the listener can't do so. Adding the modifier fixes this.

usagi5886 ( 2015-03-31 22:10:55 -0500 )edit

[2] "(the species of) the tiger" in (39a) is singular, so it refers to a single *prototype* for everything that can be considered that animal. In contrast, "(the species of) the tigers" (39b) is plural, so it refers to a grouping made up of many smaller components (the various tiger subspecies).

usagi5886 ( 2015-03-31 22:16:31 -0500 )edit

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