Article is a functional word

The
article is a function word, which means it has no lexical meaning and
is devoid of denotative function. Semantically the article can be
viewed as a significator,
i.e. a linguistic unit representing some conceptual content without
naming it. If analyzed in its relation to the conceptual reality, the
article proves to be an operator,
i.e. a marker of some cognitive operation, like identification,
classification, and the like.

It
is not a secret that articles often turn into stumbling blocks for
students of English, especially for those whose first language is
synthetic. Different language types represent different mentalities.
Therefore, one of the ways to learn to use articles correctly is
developing the necessary communicative skills through countless
repetition, which can only be achieved in a corresponding language
environment. Another way is trying to develop a system of rules
governing the use of articles in the language by understanding the
basic principles of their functioning. This is what we are going to
do, though of course, both methods complement one another. A language
student needs both theory and practice.

As
you know, there are two articles in English: the definite article
“the” and the indefinite one “a”. It has become a tradition
to also single out the so-called “zero” article, which is found
in the contexts where neither the definite nor the indefinite article
is used. It is better to speak of the zero article rather than of the
absence of the article for the same reason that we ascribe the zero
marker to the “unmarked” member of the opposition. We speak of
zero units in situations where the grammatical meaning needs to be
made explicit.

The
answer to the question “what do we need articles for?” can’t be
too simple. We might have to enumerate quite a few functions articles
can be used in. Some of them are common for all the three articles,
others are only characteristic of individual function words. This is
what we are going to speak of. 

1.The
Use of Articles as Determiners 

The
invariant function of all the articles (i.e. the function all of them
are used in) is that ofdetermination.
Any human language has a system of devices used to determine words as
parts of speech. In analytical languages the article is the basic
noun determiner. In synthetic languages, like Ukrainian and Russian
the same function is performed by inflexions.

e.g. Read the poem and comment on determiners:

2.
The Use of Articles as the Theme-and-Rheme Markers 

The
second function the articles can be used in is that of the theme-and
rheme markers. As
you know, the theme is the information already known, and the rheme
is the semantic focus of the utterance, the new idea that is being
introduced. An utterance where there is only the rheme can’t be
understood. For example, if I entered the room and said something
like that to you, “What
about a wedding dress for Jane?” you
would not understand anything, for there are three rhematic pieces of
information in this utterance:

1. Jane
   (you don’t know who she is).

2. Jane’s
   forthcoming marriage.

3. You
   have to take care of Jane’s wedding dress.

Utterances
that only contain the theme sound ridiculous. Can you imagine me
saying something like that, «Let
me share something important with you. This is a table.» You
would probably think, something is wrong with me.

Traditionally
the grammatical subject coincides with the theme, and the grammatical
predicate is the rheme of the utterance. Still there are situations
where there are disagreements between grammatical and communicative
subjects and predicates.

In languages like Ukrainian or Russian the final position of the word
in the sentence is rhematic, and the initial position is thematic. In
English the same function is performed by the indefinite and the
definite articles correspondingly. It is important to remember this
principle when you translate something into English, for example:

3.The
Use of Articles as Generalizers

The
object denoted by the word is called the “referent”.
Referents can be concrete, if something is said about a concrete
object or phenomenon, and general, if what we say is true for the
whole class of objects.

e.g. I
have a dog at home (a concrete dog). 

The
dog is man’s friend (any dog).

In
the second sentence the definite article is used as
a generalizer. The
generalizing function can be performed by both the definite, the
indefinite and the zero article. The zero article is used in the
plural or with uncountable nouns, for example:

Conscience
and cowardice are really the same things. 

Iron
is metal.

When
concrete nouns are used in generic sense, they are usually preceded
by the definite article. The indefinite article may be used when two
classes of objects are compared, for example:

A dog
is stronger than a cat.

If
asked for an explanation, I would say that the general conclusion
about the strength of cats and dogs is first made on the level of
individuals, i.e. to determine who is stronger we would probably have
to get a dog and a cat to fight. Then we would pick up another dog
and another cat, until some general conclusion could be drawn. This
is the reason the indefinite article appears in this sentence.

It
is also important to remember that different parts of the utterance
have to agree with one another semantically. So the articles are
mostly used in their generalizing function in utterances
characterized by generic reference, for example:

The
noun is a part of speech which denotes substance. 

The
tragedy of life is indifference.

4.
The Use of Articles as Concretizers

The
generalizing function of articles is opposed to that
of concretization. The
latter is realized through some specific functions which are
different for definite, indefinite and zero articles.

FUNCTIONS
OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

The
indefinite article can be used in four functions:

1. The
   classifying function

2. The
   indefinitizing function

3. The
   introductory function

4. The
   quantifying function

Each
of them is realized under specific contextual conditions.

1.
The classifying function of
the indefinite article is realized in the so-called classifying
utterances. Their invariant sentence pattern is: N + Vbe + N1. Those
are: 

a)
structures with the verb “to be”, for example: 

This
is a computer. 

b)exclamatory
sentences beginning with “what” or such. 

e.g. What
a long story! He is such a nuisance! 

c)
sentences including an adverbial modifier of manner or comparison,
for example: 

e.g. You
look like a rose! She works as a teacher.

2.
The indefinitizing function is
realized when the referent of the noun is not a real thing, but it
exists in the speaker’s imagination only. Those are sentences
containing modal verbs or verbs with modal meaning, forms of the
Subjunctive Mood, Future Tense forms, negative and interrogative
sentences. 

e.g. I
wish I had a home like you do. 

Have
you ever seen a living tiger?

3.
The introductory function.
Before sharing some information about the object, we need to
introduce it to the hearer. Fairy tales can be used as ideal
illustrations of the use of the indefinite article in its
introductory function. 

e.g. Once
upon a time there lived an old man. He had a wife and a daughter. He
lived in a small house.

4.
The quantifying function. The
indefinite article developed from the numeral “one”. The meaning
of “oneness” is still preserved when the article is used with
nouns denoting measure, like “a minute”, “a year” or “a
pound”.

FUNCTIONS
OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE 

The
definite article may be used in the following functions:

1.
The identifying function

When
we speak, we may want to point out to something that both us and the
hearer perceive with our organs of feeling. There are five different
ways of getting the information about something existing in the
objective reality. We can see it (Do you like the picture?), hear it
(I believe, the music is too loud), feel it (The pillow is so soft!),
smell it (What is the name of the perfume?) or taste it (The soup
tastes bitter).

2.
The definitizing function

The
object or thing denoted by the noun is presented as a part of some
complex. In modern science the term “frame”
is often used. The frame is a structurally organized system of
images. For example, the frame “classroom” includes a window, a
blackboard and a door. So if both the speaker and the hearer know
what classroom they are speaking of, the constituents of the
classroom don’t need any special concretization, and the indefinite
article will be used. 

e.g.
I want to talk to the rector (even
if you have never met the man).

3.
The individualizing function

The
object in question may be presented as a unique thing with the
hearer’s attention focused on its distinguishing features, which
are represented with the help of a particularizing attribute. The
object is singled out from the class it belongs to. The
particularizing attribute can be expressed by: 

a)
adjectives in the superlative degree 

e.g. This
is the easiest way out. 

b)
ordinal numerals 

e.g. I
have forgotten the first word. 

c)
attributive relative restrictive clauses 

e.g. I
need the book I bought yesterday.

FUNCTIONS
OF THE ZERO ARTICLE

In
most cases the zero article performs the same functions as the
indefinite one. The difference is that the combinability of the
latter is restricted to the group of countable nouns used in the
singular form, wh ereas the zero article combines with uncountable
nouns and countable nouns in the plural.

e.g. It
was a large room with many windows. 

The
toasts were in champagne.

Still
there are situations wh ere the zero article is used in its specific
functions which are different from those of the indefinite article.
When used with the zero article, the noun loses its general
grammatical meaning of thingness to a certain degree and acquires the
meaning of qualitativeness. For example, the nouns “day” and
“night” used with the zero article stand for “light” and
“darkness” rather than time units.

Theoretical
Grammar 

Kolomiytseva
O.A.

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Article

Definition

The article is a specific class of words that determine or specify nouns in the most general way. Therefore, the article is the main formal feature characteristic of the noun. Note that in the British tradition, alongside with pronouns and numerals used attributively, articles are regarded as determiners. (See also 4.1. and 5./.)

There are 3 types of articles: 1) the indefinite artic­le — a(n); 2) the definite article — the; 3) the zero article or the meaningful absence of the article.

The indefinite article a(n) has 2 forms: a and an. A is

used before a consonant sound: a car, a book, a pain, a

youth. It has 2 pronunciations: 1) weak [a] and 2) strong [ei]. In normal everyday speech the weak form of the indefinite article is used while its strong form is intended to emphasize the noun it determines.

An is used before a vowel sound: an object, an idea, an hour.

The indefinite article is to refer a person or a thing denoted by the noun to a certain class of similar persons or objects. It shows that the noun is taken in a relatively general sense. Otherwise stated, the indefinite article per­forms a classifying function. For example: This is a man.

(Not a woman) / have just seen a young woman waiting for you. (Not an old woman) She is a doctor. (Not a tea­cher) London is a big city. (Not a village) There is an apple for you. (Not an orange) / have a car. (Not a bicycle)

The indefinite article is always used to point to a single person, thing, or notion and thus determines only countable nouns in the singular.

The definite article the has 2 pronunciations: 1) weak , before vowels  and 2) strong . Its strong form is normally used before vowels and for emphatic purposes.

The definite article is to identify and individualize a person or a thing denoted by a noun. It demonstrates that the noun is taken in its concrete, individual sense. Thus the definite article performs an individualizing function. For example: This is the man I spoke to yesterday. I saw the young woman you had told me about. London is one of the biggest cities in the world. The apple is for you.

The definite article may determine nouns of any class both in the singular and plural.

The zero article or the meaningful absence of the article is to signify that the noun is taken in an abstract sense, expressing the most generalized idea of the person, thing, or notion denoted. Thus the zero article performs a generalizing function and basically may refer to nouns of any class.

Article and pronoun

Although both articles and pronouns, mainly de­monstrative and indefinite ones, determine nouns, they do

so in a different way. First, the article determination of nouns is obligatory for the article is indispensable to signal the lexical meaning of a noun in terms of the main lexical oppositions: proper/common, abstract/concrete, coun­table/uncountable, animate/inanimate, human/non-hu­man. (See 1.3.) Second, whereas the function of the article is to specify nouns in the most general way, the demonstrative pronouns this/these, that/those and the in­definite pronouns some, any are used to define persons, things or notions denoted by nouns in relation to other persons, things or notions, their function being to present a noun in a more detailed way, with a higher degree of certainty. Compare: A man called in while you were out. (Not a woman) — Some man/some men called in while you were out. (A man/men strange to me.) Have an apple. (Not an orange) — Have any apple you like. (Every apple, no matter which one) Will you give me the pen ? (Which is mentioned and understood by both speakers) — Will you give me this pen? (The one I am pointing to).

Note that the use of the demonstrative pronouns is arbitrary though in most cases the definite article is more idiomatic. The use of the indefinite pronouns is arbitrary in the case they are to define countables both in the singular and plural. (See the above examples.) Their use may be obligatory if they are referred to uncountable nouns and countables in the plural. For example: There is some butter in the fridge. There isn’t any jam in the cupboard. Have you got any money? (uncountables) There are some books on the shelf. There aren ‘t any nails in the box.

Indefinite article: usage

The indefinite article whose function is that of classification is used to determine only countable nouns in the singular. They include: 1) proper and common nouns, 2) concrete and abstract nouns, 3) animate and inanimate nouns, 4) human and non-human nouns. Common nouns can be either concrete or abstract. Proper nouns are ba­sically concrete.

The individual discussion of animate/inanimate and human/nonhuman nouns in terms of article determina­tion is irrelevant for all of them are common and concrete.

Indefinite article before common concrete nouns

Common concrete nouns include: 1) class nouns, 2) collective nouns, 3) nouns denoting materials. Note that common collective nouns like poultry, police, machinery, etc. and common concrete nouns denoting materials such as air, water, iron and so on are not used with the indefinite article for they are uncountable. (See 2.5. and 2.6.)

Indefinite article before common concrete class nouns

The indefinite article is used in the following cases.

a) Before a common concrete class noun denoting a person or a thing which is not already mentioned or known about, either with or without a descriptive attri-

bute, usually after the verbs be and have. He is a writer. He is a famous writer. Have you got a car? I have got a new car. I have a pain in my leg. There is a book on the

table.

b)   In  the   meaning   «any,   every»   before   a   noun denoting the called person or thing: A gentleman would never act like this. A parcel is bigger than a packet.

c)   Before   nouns   denoting  periods  of time:   three times a day, twice a week, once a month, etc.

d)   In the meaning «one» before nouns of quantity and  substantivized  numerals:  a dozen  eggs,   a  thousand pounds, a hundred times.

e)  Before the first noun of a pair that seems a single whole: a cup and saucer, a bucket and spade.

f)  Before uncountable nouns that in the context turn into countables meaning «a container or unit of»: I’d like a coffee, please, (a cup/a mug of coffee).

Indefinite article before common abstract nouns.

The indefinite article is used in the following cases.

a) In the meaning «a certain amount of or a certain action of» before names of qualities or states, either with or without a descriptive attribute: Have a look at this. He went for a swim. Have a good ride. You need a wash. It is a kindness to tell him the bad news straight away. I have a weakness for chocolate.

Note that words like kindness, weakness and so on may as well render their most generalized meanings — «the qualities of being kind» or «weak» respectively and therefore they may be determined by the zero article. For example: He has always shown kindness to animals. The

President was accused of weakness when dealing with the crisis. (See 2.6.)

Note that some abstract nouns denoting a certain amount of quality or state may be determined by the indefinite article in the case they are given a descriptive attribute: / have a great fear of fire. She fell into a deep sleep. He has a good knowledge of history. Our team put up a good fight.

b)   Before nouns denoting processes:  He drove off with a crashing of gears and a screeching of tyres. A lot of people have gathered to listen to a poetry reading. He has just had a conversation with his friends. It is necessary to hold a discussion about our future plans.

c)  Before nouns denoting phenomena usually with a descriptive attribute — an adjective or ordinal numeral: A heavy rain began to fall. Suddenly we heard a shot, then a second (shot), and a third (shot).

Note that most of abstract nouns denoting pheno­mena, such as weather, rain, thunder, storm, etc. are un­countable. (See 2.6.)

d)  Before nouns denoting periods of time as part of an adverbial phrase: We shall start in a minute. We met an hour ago. Wait a second. This subject was raised a century ago.

e)  Before some nouns denoting generalized notions: / have an idea. He has always had a tendency to missing classes.

Note that most of nouns of the group such as time in the meaning «passing of days, months, and years, con­sidered as a whole», space in the meaning «something measurable in length, width, or depth», direction, acco-modation, etc., as well as nouns denoting fields of

knowledge (linguistics, mathematics, history) are uncoun­table and therefore cannot be determined by the indefinite article.

Indefinite article before proper concrete nouns. The indefinite article may be used before names of

people in the meaning «some», showing that someone is unknown to the speaker: A Mrs Brown wishes to speak to you.

In most cases the indefinite article determines a proper noun provided it has acquired a common meaning. Thus it can be used in the following cases:

a)  Before a name of a painter to denote his picture: This is a Rembrandt. He never saw a Modigliani.

b)  In the meaning «one like or having the qualities of» before names of famous people or literary characters: They say that the young actress is a new Sophie Lor en. Her husband is so jealous. He is a real Othello.

c)   Before a proper inanimate noun to specify its kind: This is a good Champagne, (a good sort of Cham­pagne)

d)   In the meaning «a particular one» before names of times and places: / can’t remember a Christmas when it snowed so much. In 1989 there was a late Easter.

Indefinite article in collocations and set expressions.

The indefinite article may be used before a des­criptive attribute either preceding or following the noun of any class. For example: He was a tall, good-looking man. This happened on a cold, rainy September day. The novel is a funny, intelligent social comedy. It is a novel of immense intelligence, disturbing and diverting.

Any countable noun must be used with the indefinite article after the words half, rather, such, quite, most in the meaning ‘very’, what and formally or literally — many: I have rather a headache. He is quite a young man. This is a most interesting film. What a nice day it is today. I’ve never met such a beautiful girl. Many a small business has failed. (=Many small businesses have failed.)

The indefinite article is used before few and little to denote «not many» or «much»: I’d like to say a few words on the subject. If I have a little time today I’ll come to see you.

The indefinite article may be used before a substan­tivized ordinal number: At first he offered me a book, then a second (book), and a third (book).

Besides, the indefinite article is entered into nume­rous preposition + noun set phrases which function as adverbial modifier and verb + noun set phrases func­tioning as one verb.

a)  Preposition + noun set phrases: as a result, at a glance, at a stroke, at a loss, in a hurry, in a low/loud voice, in a whisper, in a minute/second, in an hour, in a sense in a word, on a par with, to an extent.

b)  Verb + noun set phrases: break a fall, cast/throw a glance, catch a train, catch a cold, do a favour, get in a fury, give a start, have a good time, have a meal, have a swim, have a ride, have a look, have a mind, make a will, make a living, take a fancy.

An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech.

In English, both «the» and «a(n)» are articles, which combine with nouns to form noun phrases. Articles typically specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun phrase, but in many languages, they carry additional grammatical information such as gender, number, and case. Articles are part of a broader category called determiners, which also include demonstratives, possessive determiners, and quantifiers. In linguistic interlinear glossing, articles are abbreviated as ART.

Types[edit]

Definite article[edit]

«Definite article» redirects here. For the Eddie Izzard comedy DVD, see Definite Article.

A definite article is an article that marks a definite noun phrase. Definite articles such as English the are used to refer to a particular member of a group. It may be something that the speaker has already mentioned or it may be otherwise something uniquely specified.

For example, Sentence 1 uses the definite article and thus expresses a request for a particular book. In contrast, Sentence 2 uses an indefinite article and thus conveys that the speaker would be satisfied with any book.

1. Give me the book.
2. Give me a book.

The definite article can also be used in English to indicate a specific class among other classes:

The cabbage white butterfly lays its eggs on members of the Brassica genus.

However, recent developments show that definite articles are morphological elements linked to certain noun types due to lexicalization. Under this point of view, definiteness does not play a role in the selection of a definite article more than the lexical entry attached to the article.^{[clarification needed][1][2]}

Indefinite article[edit]

An indefinite article is an article that marks an indefinite noun phrase. Indefinite articles are those such as English «some» or «a», which do not refer to a specific identifiable entity. Indefinites are commonly used to introduce a new discourse referent which can be referred back to in subsequent discussion:

1. A monster ate a cookie. His name is Cookie Monster.

Indefinites can also be used to generalize over entities who have some property in common:

1. A cookie is a wonderful thing to eat.

Indefinites can also be used to refer to specific entities whose precise identity is unknown or unimportant.

1. A monster must have broken into my house last night and eaten all my cookies.
2. A friend of mine told me that happens frequently to people who live on Sesame Street.

Indefinites also have predicative uses:

1. Leaving my door unlocked was a bad decision.

Indefinite noun phrases are widely studied within linguistics, in particular because of their ability to take exceptional scope.

Proper article[edit]

A proper article indicates that its noun is proper, and refers to a unique entity. It may be the name of a person, the name of a place, the name of a planet, etc. The Māori language has the proper article a, which is used for personal nouns; so, «a Pita» means «Peter». In Māori, when the personal nouns have the definite or indefinite article as an important part of it, both articles are present; for example, the phrase «a Te Rauparaha», which contains both the proper article a and the definite article Te refers to the person name Te Rauparaha.

The definite article is sometimes also used with proper names, which are already specified by definition (there is just one of them). For example: the Amazon, the Hebrides. In these cases, the definite article may be considered superfluous. Its presence can be accounted for by the assumption that they are shorthand for a longer phrase in which the name is a specifier, i.e. the Amazon River, the Hebridean Islands.^{[citation needed]} Where the nouns in such longer phrases cannot be omitted, the definite article is universally kept: the United States, the People’s Republic of China.

This distinction can sometimes become a political matter: the former usage the Ukraine stressed the word’s Russian meaning of «borderlands»; as Ukraine became a fully independent state following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it requested that formal mentions of its name omit the article. Similar shifts in usage have occurred in the names of Sudan and both Congo (Brazzaville) and Congo (Kinshasa); a move in the other direction occurred with The Gambia. In certain languages, such as French and Italian, definite articles are used with all or most names of countries: la France/le Canada/l’Allemagne, l’Italia/la Spagna/il Brasile.

If a name [has] a definite article, e.g. the Kremlin, it cannot idiomatically be used without it: we cannot say Boris Yeltsin is in Kremlin.

Some languages use definite articles with personal names, as in Portuguese (a Maria, literally: «the Maria»), Greek (η Μαρία, ο Γιώργος, ο Δούναβης, η Παρασκευή), and Catalan (la Núria, el/en Oriol). Such usage also occurs colloquially or dialectally in Spanish, German, French, Italian and other languages. In Hungarian, the colloquial use of definite articles with personal names, though widespread, is considered to be a Germanism.

The definite article sometimes appears in American English nicknames such as «the Donald», referring to former president Donald Trump, and «the Gipper», referring to former president Ronald Reagan.^[4]

Partitive article[edit]

A partitive article is a type of article, sometimes viewed as a type of indefinite article, used with a mass noun such as water, to indicate a non-specific quantity of it. Partitive articles are a class of determiner; they are used in French and Italian in addition to definite and indefinite articles. (In Finnish and Estonian, the partitive is indicated by inflection.) The nearest equivalent in English is some, although it is classified as a determiner, and English uses it less than French uses de.

French: Veux-tu du café ?

Do you want (some) coffee?

For more information, see the article on the French partitive article.

Haida has a partitive article (suffixed -gyaa) referring to «part of something or… to one or more objects of a given group or category,» e.g., tluugyaa uu hal tlaahlaang «he is making a boat (a member of the category of boats).»^[5]

Negative article[edit]

A negative article specifies none of its noun, and can thus be regarded as neither definite nor indefinite. On the other hand, some consider such a word to be a simple determiner rather than an article. In English, this function is fulfilled by no, which can appear before a singular or plural noun:

No man has been on this island.

No dogs are allowed here.

No one is in the room.

In German, the negative article is, among other variations, kein, in opposition to the indefinite article ein.

Ein Hund – a dog

Kein Hund – no dog

The equivalent in Dutch is geen:

een hond – a dog

geen hond – no dog

Zero article[edit]

The zero article is the absence of an article. In languages having a definite article, the lack of an article specifically indicates that the noun is indefinite. Linguists interested in X-bar theory causally link zero articles to nouns lacking a determiner.^[6] In English, the zero article rather than the indefinite is used with plurals and mass nouns, although the word «some» can be used as an indefinite plural article.

Visitors end up walking in mud.

Crosslinguistic variation[edit]

Articles are found in many Indo-European languages, Semitic languages (only the definite article), and Polynesian languages; however, they are formally absent from many of the world’s major languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, many Turkic languages (including Tatar, Bashkir, Tuvan and Chuvash), many Uralic languages (incl. Finnic^[a] and Saami languages), Indonesian, Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, the Baltic languages, the majority of Slavic languages, the Bantu languages (incl. Swahili). In some languages that do have articles, such as some North Caucasian languages, the use of articles is optional; however, in others like English and German it is mandatory in all cases.

Linguists believe the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, Proto-Indo-European, did not have articles. Most of the languages in this family do not have definite or indefinite articles: there is no article in Latin or Sanskrit, nor in some modern Indo-European languages, such as the families of Slavic languages (except for Bulgarian and Macedonian, which are rather distinctive among the Slavic languages in their grammar, and some Northern Russian dialects^[7]), Baltic languages and many Indo-Aryan languages. Although Classical Greek had a definite article (which has survived into Modern Greek and which bears strong functional resemblance to the German definite article, which it is related to), the earlier Homeric Greek used this article largely as a pronoun or demonstrative, whereas the earliest known form of Greek known as Mycenaean Greek did not have any articles. Articles developed independently in several language families.

Not all languages have both definite and indefinite articles, and some languages have different types of definite and indefinite articles to distinguish finer shades of meaning: for example, French and Italian have a partitive article used for indefinite mass nouns, whereas Colognian has two distinct sets of definite articles indicating focus and uniqueness, and Macedonian uses definite articles in a demonstrative sense, with a tripartite distinction (proximal, medial, distal) based on distance from the speaker or interlocutor. The words this and that (and their plurals, these and those) can be understood in English as, ultimately, forms of the definite article the (whose declension in Old English included thaes, an ancestral form of this/that and these/those).

In many languages, the form of the article may vary according to the gender, number, or case of its noun. In some languages the article may be the only indication of the case. Many languages do not use articles at all, and may use other ways of indicating old versus new information, such as topic–comment constructions.

Tables[edit]

The following examples show articles which are always suffixed to the noun:

• Albanian: zog, a bird; zogu, the bird
• Aramaic: שלם (shalam), peace; שלמא (shalma), the peace
  • Note: Aramaic is written from right to left, so an Aleph is added to the end of the word. ם becomes מ when it is not the final letter.
• Assamese: «কিতাপ (kitap)», book; «কিতাপখন (kitapkhôn)» : «The book»
• Bengali: «Bôi», book; «Bôiti/Bôita/Bôikhana» : «The Book»
• Bulgarian: стол stol, chair; столът stolǎt, the chair (subject); стола stola, the chair (object)
• Danish: hus, house; huset, the house; if there is an adjective: det gamle hus, the old house
• Icelandic: hestur, horse; hesturinn, the horse
• Macedonian: стол stol, chair; столот stolot, the chair; столов stolov, this chair; столон stolon, that chair
• Persian: sib, apple. (The Persian language does not have definite articles. It has one indefinite article ‘yek’ that means one. In Persian if a noun is not indefinite, it is a definite noun. «Sib e’ man، means my apple. Here ‘e’ is like ‘of’ in English; an so literally «Sib e man» means the apple of mine.)
• Romanian: drum, road; drumul, the road (the article is just «l», «u» is a «connection vowel» Romanian: vocală de legătură)
• Swedish and Norwegian: hus, house; huset, the house; if there is an adjective: det gamle (N)/gamla (S) huset, the old house

Examples of prefixed definite articles:

• Hebrew: ילד, transcribed as yeled, a boy; הילד, transcribed as hayeled, the boy
• Maltese: ktieb, a book; il-ktieb, the book; Maltese: għotja, a donation; l-għotja, the donation; Maltese: ċavetta, a key; iċ-ċavetta, the key; Maltese: dar, a house; id-dar, the house; Maltese: nemla, an ant; in-nemla, the ant; Maltese: ras, a head; ir-ras, the head; Maltese: sodda, a bed; is-sodda, the bed; Maltese: tuffieħa, an apple; it-tuffieħa, the apple; Maltese: xahar, a month; ix-xahar, the month; Maltese: zunnarija, a carrot; iz-zunnarija, the carrot; Maltese: żmien, a time; iż-żmien, the time

A different way, limited to the definite article, is used by Latvian and Lithuanian.
The noun does not change but the adjective can be defined or undefined. In Latvian: galds, a table / the table; balts galds, a white table; baltais galds, the white table. In Lithuanian: stalas, a table / the table; baltas stalas, a white table; baltasis stalas, the white table.

Languages in the above table written in italics are constructed languages and are not natural, that is to say that they have been purposefully invented by an individual (or group of individuals) with some purpose in mind. They do, however, all belong to language families themselves. Esperanto is derived from European languages and therefore all of its roots are found in Proto-Indo-European and cognates can be found in real-world languages like French, German, Italian and English. Interlingua is also based on European languages but with its main source being that of Italic descendant languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, with German and Russian being secondary sources, with words from further afield (but internationally known and often borrowed) contributing to the language’s vocabulary (such as words taken from Japanese, Arabic and Finnish). The result is a supposedly easy-to-learn language for the world. As well as these «auxiliary» languages the list contains two more: Quenya and Sindarin; these two languages were created by Professor Tolkien and used in his fictional works. They are not based on any real-world language family (as are Esperanto and Interlingua), but do share a common history with roots in Common Eldarin.

Tokelauan[edit]

When using a definite article in Tokelauan language, unlike in some languages like English, if the speaker is speaking of an item, they need not have referred to it previously as long as the item is specific.^[8] This is also true when it comes to the reference of a specific person.^[8] So, although the definite article used to describe a noun in the Tokelauan language is te, it can also translate to the indefinite article in languages that requires the item being spoken of to have been referenced prior.^[8] When translating to English, te could translate to the English definite article the, or it could also translate to the English indefinite article a.^[8] An example of how the definite article te can be used as an interchangeable definite or indefinite article in the Tokelauan language would be the sentence “Kua hau te tino”.^[8] In the English language, this could be translated as “A man has arrived” or “The man has arrived” where using te as the article in this sentence can represent any man or a particular man.^[8] The word he, which is the indefinite article in Tokelauan, is used to describe ‘any such item’, and is encountered most often with negatives and interrogatives.^[8] An example of the use of he as an indefinite article is “Vili ake oi k’aumai he toki ”, where ‘he toki ’ mean ‘an axe’.^[8] The use of he and te in Tokelauan are reserved for when describing a singular noun. However, when describing a plural noun, different articles are used. For plural definite nouns, rather than te, the article nā is used.^[8] ‘Vili ake oi k’aumai nā nofoa’ in Tokelauan would translate to “Do run and bring me the chairs” in English.^[8] There are some special cases in which instead of using nā, plural definite nouns have no article before them. The absence of an article is represented by 0.^[8] One way that it is usually used is if a large amount or a specific class of things are being described.^[8] Occasionally, such as if one was describing an entire class of things in a nonspecific fashion, the singular definite noun te would is used.^[8] In English, ‘Ko te povi e kai mutia’ means “Cows eat grass”.^[8] Because this is a general statement about cows, te is used instead of nā. The ko serves as a preposition to the “te” The article ni is used for describing a plural indefinite noun. ‘E i ei ni tuhi?’ translates to “Are there any books?”^[8]

Historical development[edit]

Articles often develop by specialization of adjectives or determiners. Their development is often a sign of languages becoming more analytic instead of synthetic, perhaps combined with the loss of inflection as in English, Romance languages, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Torlakian.

Joseph Greenberg in Universals of Human Language describes «the cycle of the definite article»: Definite articles (Stage I) evolve from demonstratives, and in turn can become generic articles (Stage II) that may be used in both definite and indefinite contexts, and later merely noun markers (Stage III) that are part of nouns other than proper names and more recent borrowings. Eventually articles may evolve anew from demonstratives.^[9]

Definite articles[edit]

Definite articles typically arise from demonstratives meaning that. For example, the definite articles in most Romance languages—e.g., el, il, le, la, lo, a, o — derive from the Latin demonstratives ille (masculine), illa (feminine) and illud (neuter).

The English definite article the, written þe in Middle English, derives from an Old English demonstrative, which, according to gender, was written se (masculine), seo (feminine) (þe and þeo in the Northumbrian dialect), or þæt (neuter). The neuter form þæt also gave rise to the modern demonstrative that. The ye occasionally seen in pseudo-archaic usage such as «Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe» is actually a form of þe, where the letter thorn (þ) came to be written as a y.

Multiple demonstratives can give rise to multiple definite articles. Macedonian, for example, in which the articles are suffixed, has столот (stolot), the chair; столов (stolov), this chair; and столон (stolon), that chair. These derive from the Proto-Slavic demonstratives *tъ «this, that», *ovъ «this here» and *onъ «that over there, yonder» respectively. Colognian prepositions articles such as in dat Auto, or et Auto, the car; the first being specifically selected, focused, newly introduced, while the latter is not selected, unfocused, already known, general, or generic.

Standard Basque distinguishes between proximal and distal definite articles in the plural (dialectally, a proximal singular and an additional medial grade may also be present). The Basque distal form (with infix -a-, etymologically a suffixed and phonetically reduced form of the distal demonstrative har-/hai-) functions as the default definite article, whereas the proximal form (with infix -o-, derived from the proximal demonstrative hau-/hon-) is marked and indicates some kind of (spatial or otherwise) close relationship between the speaker and the referent (e.g., it may imply that the speaker is included in the referent): etxeak («the houses») vs. etxeok («these houses [of ours]»), euskaldunak («the Basque speakers») vs. euskaldunok («we, the Basque speakers»).

Speakers of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, a modern Aramaic language that lacks a definite article, may at times use demonstratives aha and aya (feminine) or awa (masculine) – which translate to «this» and «that», respectively – to give the sense of «the».^[10]

Indefinite articles[edit]

Indefinite articles typically arise from adjectives meaning one. For example, the indefinite articles in the Romance languages—e.g., un, una, une—derive from the Latin adjective unus. Partitive articles, however, derive from Vulgar Latin de illo, meaning (some) of the.

The English indefinite article an is derived from the same root as one. The -n came to be dropped before consonants, giving rise to the shortened form a. The existence of both forms has led to many cases of juncture loss, for example transforming the original a napron into the modern an apron.

The Persian indefinite article is yek, meaning one.

See also[edit]

• English articles
• Al- (definite article in Arabic)
• Definiteness
• Definite description
• False title

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• «The Definite Article, ‘The’: The Most Frequently Used Word in World’s Englishes»
• Ing, John (September 17, 2019). «How to Use Articles Correctly in English (A, An & The)». Retrieved May 3, 2020.