Conversation started Aug 12, 2014 at 7:22.
Anonymous
Aug 12, 2014 07:22
There are counterexamples to the uniqueness argument
Anonymous
"Could you turn the light on?" (Fine even if the room has more than one light, and you're not being specific about which one)
Anonymous
"Towards evening we came to the bank of a river." (Fine even though rivers generally have two banks)
Anonymous
"The boy scribbled on the living-room wall." (Fine even though rooms tend to have multiple walls)
Anonymous
"The dog bit him on the finger." (Fine even though most people have ten fingers, or eight if you exclude thumbs)
Anonymous
"Lee kissed Pat on the cheek." (Fine even though most people have multiple cheeks)
Anonymous
Aug 12, 2014 07:24
"Could you please open the window?" (Fine even if the room has multiple closed windows)
Anonymous
"Take the elevator to the sixth floor." (Fine even if the hotel has four elevators)
Anonymous
"Please pass the milk." (Fine even if there are multiple cartons of milk sitting on the table)
Anonymous
"I spent a week in the hospital." (Fine even if there are multiple hospitals in the world)
Anonymous
"He was the son of a poor farmer." (Fine even if the poor farmer has multiple sons)
Anonymous
"I read it in the paper this morning." (Fine even if multiple newspapers exist)
Anonymous
Aug 12, 2014 07:27
"The first thing we did upon arriving in Santiago was to go to the park and have a relaxing picnic lunch." (Fine even though there are multiple parks within the city)
Anonymous
So although the generalization that the should be used when the NP it marks has unique reference is right fairly often, it is also wrong often enough that it needs some revision in order to be useful
 
Conversation ended Aug 12, 2014 at 7:28.