Re: OT: Two language change questions

It could equally validly be interpreted as that there was a specific cream
pie, or just one, available for the clown to use, and that was what he hit
the man with. (Very brief as still rescuing Cl. Arithide information
forTaliesin.)

Eugene

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 6:19 PM, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:

> --- On Wed, 10/29/08, David McCann <david@...> wrote:
>
> ...
> >
> > I wouldn't say that the indefinite article is *only* a
> > quantifier: I'm
> > always suspicious of theorists who insist there is only one
> > true way to
> > describe the phenomena! But *primarily* a quantifier, yes.
>
> Here's an odd role for the definite vs indefinite article:
>
> The clown hit the man with A cream pie.
> The clown hit the man with THE cream pie.
>
> In the first it is clear that the cream pie was the weapon used against the
> man, while in the second case it seems that the clown hit, with some unknown
> weapon, the man who was holding the cream pie.
>
> E.G:
>
> The clown hit the man with A baseball bat.
> The clown hit the man with THE red hat.
>
> --gary
>

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