Theory of Count-Noncount Nouns Theory of Articles

8 compared with several theories in the first part in order to answer the three research problems.

1. English Grammar Theories

This part explains four main theories supporting this research: a theory of singular-plural, b theory of articles, c theory of error analysis, d theory of competence representing theory of mastery.

a. Theory of Count-Noncount Nouns

Azhar states that there are two kinds of noun based on the countability of the nouns: count and noncount noun. Figure 2.1 illustrates the classifications of those kinds of nouns based on Azhar’s book 1993. Figure 2.1 : Classification of nouns Azhar classifies nouns, based on their countability, into two groups: count and noncount nouns. 9 1 Count Noun A count noun is an item that can be counted Azhar, 1993: 204. Count nouns could still be broken down into singular when the quantity of the item is only one, and into plural when the quantity of an item is more than one. The example of singular noun is an eye, or a girl. Articles a andan are important to show that something is singular. The use of a and an will be explained further in the discussion of the theories of articles. Meanwhile, eyes, and girls are the examples of plural nouns. The form of a singular noun only has one form, a noun plus an ora, but plural nouns have several forms. The examples provided are included in the regular plural forms which only need -s or -es to indicate a plural noun, yet, there is another plural form, irregular plural form, for example: child Æchildren, or fish Æ fish. 2 Noncount Noun Noncount nouns are nouns that cannot be counted. There are several kinds of nouns which are included in noncount nouns. In figure 2.1, Azhar 1993 classifies noncount nouns into four groups: a A noun that represents a whole group of things, for example, food, fruit. b A noun that represents whole masses, for example, sugar, and coffee. c An abstract concept, for instance, love, and luck. d Phenomenon in nature, such as sunshine, weather. 10 In short, based on their countability, nouns are divided into two groups: count and noncount nouns. The count nouns themselves can still be classified as the singular and plural nouns. Meanwhile, noncount nouns are classified into nouns representing a whole group of thing, whole masses, abstract concepts, and phenomenon in nature.

b. Theory of Articles

It is previously mentioned in the discussion of count-noncount noun, a andan are needed for singular noun. Those two items are called articles. This subchapter will elaborate articles more deeply starting from their definition, their types, kinds of nouns following them, and how to use them, including the use of a and an for a singular noun. 1 The Definition of Articles According to Dykes 2007, the word article is derived from Latin words articulus meaning ‘a little joint’ or ‘a bit joined on’. Dykes views that an article itself does not have a concrete meaning since it will not be present in the imagination. Nevertheless it has functions which make it meaningful. The function of articles would be explained further in the next discussion. 2 The Function of Articles As stated above, what makes an article meaningful is its function. William 2005 explains that an article is included as a determiner of which function is to signal 11 the presence of a noun. In other words, an article has almost the same functions as the functions of a determiner. A determiner indicates the presence of a noun. On one hand, there are only several kinds of nouns which need articles as the determiners. 3 Types of Articles According to Azhar, there are three types of articles: a, an, the. Those three articles are used in different conditions which mainly depend on the nouns after the articles. Nonetheless, there is also a condition when a noun does not need any article. Ø is the symbol used by Azhar to ease the students in visualizing such condition. Meanwhile, a, an, the, and Ø are used in different conditions. The next subchapter will explain the use of articles. 4 The Use of Articles It is previously explained that there are three kinds of articles: an, an, and the. Other than those three articles, Azhar introduces Ø or zero article to represent the state when no article is needed. The use of those three articles and Ø depends on the kinds of nouns following them, which are divided based on their countability and reference by Azhar. Countability is already elaborated in the previous discussion. It deals with whether the nouns are singular, plural, or noncount. Meanwhile, based on their reference, nouns are classified into three groups: generic, definite and indefinite nouns. The definition of those kinds of nouns will be explained further in the discussion of article uses below. 12 a A A is basically used for singular nouns which begin with consonant sounds. On the contrary, if the nouns begin with vowels or diphthong sounds, an is used. The description of an will be explained in a separated discussion. Table 2.1 provides the detailed use of a. Table 2.1 : The Use of A Articles Countability Reference Examples Phonetic Transcription A singular Generic 3 A banana is yellow. 4 A university is for undergraduate and postgraduate students. ə βəνΑ::νə ə ϕυ:νΙϖə:σ ɪτɪ Indefinite 5 I ate a banana. 6 I study in a university. ə βəνΑ::νə ə ϕυ:νΙϖə:σ ɪτɪ Table 2.1 describes the usage of article a, which is used before 1 singular generic nouns and 2 singular definite nouns, with a condition that those singular definite and singular generic nouns are began with consonant sounds. Azhar 1993 defines a generic noun as a noun which represents a whole class of nouns, for example in the example 3 and 5 abanana refers to all bananas in the world, not a certain banana. Meanwhile, an indefinite noun is an actual thing, but it is not specifically identified. In short, if an indefinite noun is mentioned in a conversation, the speaker and the listener usually does not share the same reference since the thing is not specific. In example 4 and 6, the word a university may refer to any university in the world. The speaker knows the reference, yet the listener does not know clearly which university it is. 13 However, article a can be used if either the singular generic nouns or the singular indefinite nouns begin with a consonant sound. In example 3, the word banana is obvously started with the consonant letter b and sound b, thus, for this purposea is used. In example 4 although the noun university is started with a letter u which is basically spelled as a vowel or diphthong sounds, it is pronounced as a consonant ju when it is read as in the word university. Hence, a is used. b An An anda basically have the same functions. The difference between a andan is on the beginning sound of the nouns. Table 2.2 provides the detailed information about the use of anas well as its examples in sentences. Table 2.2 : The Use of An Articles Countability Reference Examples Phonetic Transcription an singular generic 7An apple is red. 8An hour is sixty minutes. əν {πəλ əν αυəρ indefinite 9 I ate an apple. 10An honored guest came yesterday. əν {πλ əν Θ:νəρə As stated in the previous paragraph, the difference between a andan is only on the first sound of its following noun.An is usually followed by vowel or diphthong sounds. Although the first letter of the noun is individually a consonant letter, for instance h in example 8, an is still used since the word hour is read αυ≅ρ,in which the first sound is the diphthong au. In the meantime, a and an have basically the same functions. Like a, an is also used for singular generic and singular indefinite nouns. The word an apple in example 7 and an hour in 14 example 8 represent all apples and the standard of an hour in the world. Generic noun does not refer to a specific thing, but to a class of things. Meanwhile, those words in example 9 and 10 use articles an as the listener may not share the same reference as that of the speaker. c The Unlike the previous two articles,the is not affected by the first sound of the noun following it. The use of this article is mainly influenced by the reference of the nouns. The detailed use of the is provided in table 2.3. Table 2.3 : The Use of The Articles Countability Reference Examples the singular definite 11 Thank you for the umbrella. plural 12 Thank you for the bananas. nouncount 13 Thank you for the fruit. Table 2.3 shows that the countability and the first sound of a noun do not affect the use of the. It is supported by examples 11, 12, 13. In example 11, the word umbrella is a singular noun and it is started with vowel sound. On the other hand, in example 12, the word bananas is plural and started with consonant sounds. Besides those examples, the may also be used for adjective clause. The use of this article mainly depends on the reference of the nouns. The noun for this article is a definite noun which is the opposite of the indefinite one. If indefinite nouns are not specifically identified, a definite noun is specific. It means that in a conversation, both listener and speaker usually share the same reference of the nouns. 15 There are several exception for the use of the. The can also be used for several singular generic nouns: 1 species of animals, 2 inventions,3 musical instruments. Table 2.4 exemplifies each exception. Table 2.4: Exceptions on the Use of The No Classifications Examples 1. Species of animals 14 The whale is the largest animal on earth. 2. Inventions 15 Who invented the telephone?