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Drhex Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Use of definitive article
In "The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt" I find this sentence:
"This was done through taxation, to support the Crown and its projects on a grand scale, including expeditions for goods and materials to the Sinai, Palestine, the Lebanon, Lower Nubia, and the Eastern Desert."
What weird grammatical rule endows Sinai and Lebanon with a definitive article but has Palestine go without? Also, why prefix Eastern Desert with "the", but not Lower Nubia when both are proper nouns?
"This was done through taxation, to support the Crown and its projects on a grand scale, including expeditions for goods and materials to the Sinai, Palestine, the Lebanon, Lower Nubia, and the Eastern Desert."
What weird grammatical rule endows Sinai and Lebanon with a definitive article but has Palestine go without? Also, why prefix Eastern Desert with "the", but not Lower Nubia when both are proper nouns?
Top answer
The grammatical rules governing the use of articles with regard to proper nouns are a mess. They are probably more due to tradition than anything else. I think Sinai is short for the Sinai peninsula but I can't comment on the rest of the proper nouns.
- The grammatical rules governing the use of articles with regard to proper nouns are a mess.
- They are probably more due to tradition than anything else.
- I think Sinai is short for the Sinai peninsula but I can't comment on the rest of the proper nouns.
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1 Answers
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The grammatical rules governing the use of articles with regard to proper nouns are a mess. They are probably more due to tradition than anything else.
I think Sinai is short for the Sinai peninsula but I can't comment on the rest of the proper nouns.
I think Sinai is short for the Sinai peninsula but I can't comment on the rest of the proper nouns.
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