Definite Article Use at the Beginning of Titles

Rafael Lapesa's (1996) rule specifying when the definite article should be used at the beginning of a title in Spanish is quoted, & several exceptions are identified. To clarify the issue, the semantics underlying the presence/absence of the definite article in Spanish titles is discussed, analyzing the syntagma: countable noun + de 'of' + (definite article) + noncountable noun; it is pointed out that the presence/absence of the definite article affects the semantics of this structure the same way the presence/absence of the definite article at the beginning of a title indicates the relationship between the title & the content of the article. Thus, the meanings of hombre de nieve 'snowman' & hombre de la nieve 'the Abominable Snowman, ie, Yeti' are outcomes of the definite article's absence in the former & presence in the latter. Therefore, the use of the definite article at the beginning of a title depends on five factors: (1) presence/absence of coincidence of place between the title & the titled, (2) presence/absence of proportion between the title & the titled, (3) presence/absence of quality coincidence between the title & the titled, (4) finite/infinite quantity of the titled, & (5) presence/absence of repetition limiting markers. Z. Dubiel