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When I studied geography as a schoolboy, the major complication was Africa. At annoyingly frequent intervals, we had to memorize details about new nations: Zaire, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Burundi, etc. I was jealous of my parents, for in their schooldays, that map was much simpler: German East Africa, Belgian Congo, etc.
Young scholars must feel the same way now, though their annoyance has shifted to Eurasia. They gained a little when two nations became just one Germany, but in the past year, a single USSR has turned into 15 nations.
Each has its own flag, capital, population and borders
to memorize. I don't envy those who must learn Kazakhstan,
Alma-Ata, Kirghizia, Frunze, Azerbaijan, Baku, and so
forth. My generation had it easy with a simple USSR
and Moscow.
One result of this cartographic revision is that the
Ukraine
(capital Kiev, population 51,377,000, area
233,100 square miles) now prefers to be just
Ukraine.
Some point out that the Ukrainian language
has no definite article, so it is impossible to say the
Ukraine
there. Others say the shorter locution
represents independence; the Ukraine
was part of the
Soviet Union, while Ukraine
is a nation.
This inspires contemplation of the use of the definite article in Official English.
For instance, Colorado
is our state. The
Colorado
is a river, just as Arkansas
is a state
and the Arkansas
a river, or Gunnison
a town
and the Gunnison
a river.
It would thus appear that we use the
before a
natural feature, and omit the
before a human
contrivance, such as a political unit. We say the Royal
Gorge is in Frémont County,
not Royal Gorge
is in the Frémont County.
However, South Park
is the vast intermontane
valley around Fairplay and Como. The South Park
is a
narrow-gauge railroad which once served that region. Here
we use the
before a human invention, and omit
the
before a natural feature.
Our usage is also inconsistent for similar features.
Rivers are honored with the,
but not other bodies of
water, like reservoirs and creeks.
We tried fishing on the Gunnison. We struck out at
Blue Mesa Reservoir, too. Finally we got a case of tall
boys and headed up Cebolla Creek.
That's good Colorado
English. You should be exiled if you say We cast flies
on Gunnison River without success, as was also the sad case
with the Blue Mesa Reservoir, but eventually we enjoyed a
rewarding experience on the Cebolla Creek.
But this rule about the
before rivers is not
universally followed. Historian Marshall Sprague, whose
lively work I much enjoy, writes on Blue River
and
down Snake River.
Nor is our usage consistent about where rivers flow:
it's the Black Canyon
near Montrose, but plain
Gore Canyon
near Kremmling, where the Gore
is
the mountain range west of town and the Troublesome
is a creek and its basin -- troublesome
and
gore
are also sometimes used to describe big-game
hunters and their results.
Perhaps our legislature, like the Ukrainian Parliament,
could decree when we should and should not use the.
If they can find time to ponder whether the square dance
should be designated the Official State Dance, then they
certainly can ignore school finance for long enough to
provide definitive guidance to users of Official
English.
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