The is a grammatical article in English language, denoting that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. The is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words.
Pronunciation
In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a
schwa) when followed by a
consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun
thee) when followed by a vowel sound or used as an emphatic form.
Modern American English and New Zealand English have an increasing tendency to limit usage of pronunciation and use , even before a vowel.
Sometimes the word "the" is pronounced , with stress, to emphasise that something is unique: "he is first", not just "one of the" first.
Adverbial
Definite article principles in English are described under "Use of articles".
The, as in phrases like "the more the better", has a distinct origin and etymology and by chance has evolved to be identical to the definite article.
["the, adv.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2016. Web. 11 March 2016.]
Article
The and
that are common developments from the same Old English system. Old English had a definite article (in the masculine gender), (feminine), and That]] (neuter). In
Middle English, these had all merged into þe, the ancestor of the
Modern English word
the.
Ye form
In Middle English, the digraph was written using the letter thorn, . During the latter Middle English and Early Modern English periods, thorn (in its common script or
cursive form), came to resemble a
y shape. With the arrival of
movable type printing, the substitution of for became ubiquitous, leading to the common
ye, as in '
Ye Olde Curiositie Shoppe'. One major reason for this was that existed in the printer's
Movable type that
William Caxton and his contemporaries imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, while did not.
Historically, the article was never pronounced with a
y sound even when it was so written.
The word þe ( the) was frequently written as , a with a small above it. (Similarly, þat (modern that) was abbreviated using a with a small above it, as can be seen in the sample illustrated here.) As a result of the for substitution practice, the use of a with an above it (,) style became common. It can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the King James Version of the Bible (in places such as Romans 15:29) or in the Mayflower Compact.
Geographic usage
An area in which the use or non-use of
the is sometimes problematic is with
toponym:
-
Notable natural landmarks – rivers, seas, mountain ranges, deserts, island groups (), etc., are generally used with a "the" definite article ( the Rhine, the North Sea, the Alps, the Sahara, Hebrides).
-
Continents, individual islands, administrative units, and settlements mostly do not take a "the" article ( Europe, Jura, Austria (but the Republic of Austria), Scandinavia, Yorkshire (but the County of York), Madrid).
-
Beginning with a common noun followed by of may take the article, as in the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Portland (compare Christmas Island), same applies to names of institutions: Cambridge University, but the University of Cambridge.
-
Some place names include an article, such as the Bronx, The Oaks, The Rock, The Birches, The Bog, The Harrow, The Rower, The Swan, The Valley, The Farrington, The Quarter, The Plains, The Dalles, The Forks, The Village, The Village (NJ), The Village (OK), The Villages, The Village at Castle Pines, The Woodlands, The Pas, Wells-next-the-Sea, Vatican City, the Tiergarten, The Hyde, the West End, the East End, The Hague, or the City of London (but London). Formerly e.g. Bath, Devizes or White Plains.
-
Generally described singular names, the North Island (New Zealand) or the West Country (England), take an article.
Country and territorial regions are notably mixed, most exclude "the" but there are some that adhere to secondary rules:
-
Derivations from collective common nouns such as "kingdom", "republic", "union", etc.: the Central African Republic, the Dominican Republic, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United Arab Emirates, including most country full names:
-
Countries in a plural noun: Netherlands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Cayman Islands, Philippines, Comoros, Maldives, Seychelles, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Bahamas.
-
Singular derivations from "island" or "land" that hold administrative rights – Greenland, England, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island – do not take a "the" definite article.
-
Derivations from mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc., are sometimes used with an article, even for singular ( the Lebanon, the Sudan, the Yukon, the Congo).
[Swan, Michael How English Works, p. 25] This usage is in decline, The Gambia remains recommended whereas use of the Argentine for Argentina is considered old-fashioned. Ukraine is occasionally referred to as the Ukraine, a usage that was common during the 20th century and during Soviet rule, but this is considered incorrect and possibly offensive in modern usage.
Trademark
Ohio State University registered a
trademark allowing the university to use "THE" on casual and athletic clothing. The university, often referred to as "The Ohio State University", had used "THE" on clothing since 2005, but took steps to register the trademark in August 2019 after the
Marc Jacobs company attempted to do the same. In August 2021 Ohio State and Marc Jacobs agreed the
Luxury goods fashion retailer could use "THE" on its merchandise, which was different from what the university would sell. Still, the university took almost an additional year to convince the United States Patent and Trademark Office that the use of "the" was "more than ... ornamental".
Abbreviations
The word "The" itself, capitalised, is used as an abbreviation in Commonwealth countries for the honorific title "The Right Honourable", as in e.g. "The Earl Mountbatten of Burma", short for "The Right Honourable Earl Mountbatten of Burma", or "The Prince Charles".
['The Prefix "The"'. In Titles and Forms of Address, 21st ed., pp. 8–9. A & C Black, London, 2002.]
Notes
External links
