[Grammar] Tarzan of the Apes

[kadioguy]

'Tarzan of the Apes' is a novel. But I don't understand the structure of the title.

I know structures like 'one of the students', 'king of the country', 'the leader of the team'; however, 'Tarzan' is a name. What does it mean by 'name of something'?

I assume that the title means: there are some apes. Tarzan is one of them. So we call he 'Tarzan of the Apes'.

Is that right?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Almost. Tarzan isn't an ape himself, but he lives with them.

 

[GoesStation]

In this context you can read "of" as associated with.

 

[jutfrank]

I think the sense of of here is what would generally be considered the primary sense: the integrative sense. The basic idea is that Tarzan is conceived of as an integral part of a whole. He's seen as one part of a group of apes. On a basic level, that is what GoesStation is saying with the replacement 'associated with', I believe.

In terms of structure, a good comparison would be when we use this integrative sense more specifically, as with, for example, the way we traditionally referred to people by where they came from, or a place they were otherwise identified (or associated) with.

Anne of Cleves
William of Ockham
Lawrence of Arabia

I think that in the case of Tarzan of the Apes, the particular association that Edgar Rice Burroughs intended to engender was that Tarzan was identifiable with the apes who raised him in his nature. The idea of course being that although he was not an ape in the biological sense, he certainly was (at least partly) an ape in another sense. That's what makes the character, and what happens to him in the story, so interesting.

 

[Phaedrus]

'Tarzan of the Apes' is a novel. But I don't understand the structure of the title.

Interestingly, that of-construction commonly occurs with sports teams (Magic Johnson of the Lakers) and political parties (Joe Biden of the Democrats).

 

[kadioguy]

In terms of structure, a good comparison would be when we use this integrative sense more specifically, as with, for example, the way we traditionally referred to people by where they came from, or a place they were otherwise identified (or associated) with.

I am running the risk of being off the topic, but why are the blue parts in the past simple, rather than in the preset simple? Because the example was made up by you? Is it also correct to use the preset simple here? :-?

 

[GoesStation]

I am running the risk of being off the topic, but why are the blue parts in the past simple, rather than in the preset simple? Because the example was made up by you? Is it also correct to use the present simple here? :-?

No. He used the past simple because he was writing about something that was done in the past. We rarely do it now.

 

[kadioguy]

Thank you all.

Another two novels Tarzan the Untamed and Tarzan the Terrible, does the structure of them is like 'Winnie the Pooh'?

I assume:

A the B

In this structure 'the B' is something to describe A.

I guess we could also say:

the untamed man, Tarzan
the terrible man, Tarzan
the pooh bear, Winnie

Is that right?

 

[tedmc]

Thank you all.

For another two novels, Tarzan the Untamed and Tarzan the Terrible, [STRIKE]does[/STRIKE] is [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] their structure [STRIKE]of them[/STRIKE][STRIKE] is [/STRIKE]like 'Winnie the Pooh'?

I assume:

A the B

In this structure 'the B' is something to describe A.

I guess we could also say:

the untamed man, Tarzan
the terrible man, Tarzan
the pooh bear, Winnie

The above titles are unnatural. The adjective tagged after a name (with a the in between) is an attribute which distinguishes the character, a noun, and not an adjective per se.

Is that right?

Examples of famous names tagged with an attribute
Alexandar the Great
Peter the Great
Ivan the Terrible

 

[Phaedrus]

[cross-posted]

Another two novels Tarzan the Untamed and Tarzan the Terrible, does the structure of them is like 'Winnie the Pooh'?

It's actually the structure found in "America the Beautiful," "Peter the Great," and "Ivan the Terrible."

I assume:

A the B
In this structure 'the B' is something to describe A.

I guess we could also say:

the untamed man, Tarzan
the terrible man, Tarzan
the pooh bear, Winnie

Is that right?

I'd say that "Tarzan the Untamed/Terrible" is a different way of writing "the untamed/terrible Tarzan." The construction takes an adjective perceived as integral to the named one ('the beautiful America") and makes the adjective part of the name ("America the Beautiful").

 

[Tdol]

We already know of his association with the apes, these titles reflect the qualities he will display in the novels.