Re: Articles with propper names (was RE: Same name (was ...))

At 05:29 PM 4/25/2000 -0400, John Cowan wrote:
>English uses an emphatic definite article with a name to refer to an
>obvious unique bearer of the name, thus:
>
>        The King of Macedon at that time was Alexander ---
>        not *the* Alexander, but his great-grandfather.
>
>"*The* Alexander" would be Alexander the Great, conqueror of Persia.
In a mystery novel by Ngaio Marsh (I don't remember which one), I remember
seeing the definite article used with the name of a character in a play, to
refer to the actor portraying that character: something like "the Hamlet
was great in Act 2".  The characters who used this form were British
actors, so I don't know if this is general British usage or just theatre
jargon.  But I really liked it, and have since looked for ways to
incorporate similar usages into some of my conlangs.

- Tim

------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Smith

"To live outside the law you must be honest."
        -- Bob Dylan