[tied] Re: Utility of Articles (was: Rise of the Feminine)

From: Anthony Appleyard
Message: 32445
Date: 2004-05-02

--- "Âàäèì Ïîíàðÿäîâ" <ponaryad@...> wrote:
> ...in Russian, ... when you are buying two bottles of milk in a
> shop, you may say either:
> dve butylki moloka
> two CLF (lit. bottles) milk
> or:
> dva moloka
> two milk

That is because it is unambiguous what "a milk" is. If milk came in
several sizes of containers, people would not be so eager to leave
out the name of the container.