Abstract

The thesis examines determination in noun phrases in English, German and Czech. The analysis is restricted to noun phrases containing articles in English and German, and selected determiners occurring as translation equivalents of English articles in Czech noun phrases. The use of determiners is classified with respect to six types of determination, the major types being specifying, qualifying, generic, and conventional determination. It is argued that articles in German are more functionally loaded than in English because they also serve as signals of other grammatical categories apart from their function as markers of determination. It is also argued that Czech is an articleless language in which determination is most often signalled by context. Yet, in some Czech NPs the use of determiners is obligatory. …víceméně