Re: CHAT: Definite/Indefinite Article Distinction
From: | Thomas R. Wier <trwier@...> |
Date: | Sunday, September 8, 2002, 7:54 |
Quoting Philip Newton <Philip.Newton@...>:
> On 7 Sep 02, at 20:44, Roberto Suarez Soto wrote:
>
> > Here, "uno" doesn't mean "one" or "a", but more "oneself". So, "no
> > tener uno hombre" could be pedantically translated to "not to have
> > oneself a man", or simply "not to have (got?) a man for oneself". In
> > fact, you could strip the "uno", and it will make perfect sense. I
> > don't even know if "oneself" is correct in english, but you get the
> > idea :-)
>
> It's correct. "One has to look out for oneself", etc.
>
> (Though there are speakers who use "him" and "himself" for oblique
> forms of "one": "One must look out for himself and protect his
> interests". I find that sounds weird, but there are many who do this. I
> *think* it's more common in Leftpondia.)
I can't recall hearing that much. It's ungrammatical for me; either
say "you must look out for yourself and protect your interests" or
do as you say above.
=========================================================================
Thomas Wier "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637