Article (grammar) - Revision history

Nick at 09:30, 31 March 2022

2022-03-31T09:30:07Z

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	==Does the KJV fail to translate the Greek article properly?==		==Does the KJV fail to translate the Greek article properly?==
	The following is from the website [http://www.kjvtoday.~~com~~/home/does-the-kjv-fail-to-translate-the-definite-article-properly-in-the-greek kjvtoday.~~com~~]:		The following is from the website [http://www.kjvtoday.net/home/does-the-kjv-fail-to-translate-the-definite-article-properly-in-the-greek kjvtoday.net]:
	:It is often alleged that the KJV erroneously translates the Greek definite article (ο, η, τό) as an English indefinite article (a, an). An example is in Matthew 5:1: “he went up into a mountain.” The Greek says, “ανεβη εις το ορος,” which has the definite article “το” preceding “mountain (ορος).” The KJV is not in error. The definite article in Greek can function as a categorical article having a qualitative force (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics at 228), in which case the English indefinite article could be a valid translation. As with Greek, the English definite article (the) can also be used to determine the category and nothing more. For example, we might say “On sunny days, people go to the beach.” Despite the definite article, no specific beach is implied. Thus we are actually saying, “On sunny days, people go to a beach.” “The beach” is a categorical determination, not a determination of a specific beach. The definite article’s purpose is only to determine the specific category, and not to determine the specific thing in the category. Likewise, when Matthew 5:1 says, “ανεβη εις το ορος,” “το” can be translated with the English indefinite article, signifying that the category of the location was a mountain as opposed to something else (e.g. town, beach). The NIV, which attempts to convey the sense of the passage, agrees with the KJV and reads, “he went up on a mountainside.”		:It is often alleged that the KJV erroneously translates the Greek definite article (ο, η, τό) as an English indefinite article (a, an). An example is in Matthew 5:1: “he went up into a mountain.” The Greek says, “ανεβη εις το ορος,” which has the definite article “το” preceding “mountain (ορος).” The KJV is not in error. The definite article in Greek can function as a categorical article having a qualitative force (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics at 228), in which case the English indefinite article could be a valid translation. As with Greek, the English definite article (the) can also be used to determine the category and nothing more. For example, we might say “On sunny days, people go to the beach.” Despite the definite article, no specific beach is implied. Thus we are actually saying, “On sunny days, people go to a beach.” “The beach” is a categorical determination, not a determination of a specific beach. The definite article’s purpose is only to determine the specific category, and not to determine the specific thing in the category. Likewise, when Matthew 5:1 says, “ανεβη εις το ορος,” “το” can be translated with the English indefinite article, signifying that the category of the location was a mountain as opposed to something else (e.g. town, beach). The NIV, which attempts to convey the sense of the passage, agrees with the KJV and reads, “he went up on a mountainside.”

Nick: /* Variation among languages */

2016-03-19T11:43:28Z

Variation among languages

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:43, 19 March 2016
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	: ''Visitors walked in mud.''		: ''Visitors walked in mud.''

			==Does the KJV fail to translate the Greek article properly?==
			The following is from the website [http://www.kjvtoday.com/home/does-the-kjv-fail-to-translate-the-definite-article-properly-in-the-greek kjvtoday.com]:
			:It is often alleged that the KJV erroneously translates the Greek definite article (ο, η, τό) as an English indefinite article (a, an). An example is in Matthew 5:1: “he went up into a mountain.” The Greek says, “ανεβη εις το ορος,” which has the definite article “το” preceding “mountain (ορος).” The KJV is not in error. The definite article in Greek can function as a categorical article having a qualitative force (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics at 228), in which case the English indefinite article could be a valid translation. As with Greek, the English definite article (the) can also be used to determine the category and nothing more. For example, we might say “On sunny days, people go to the beach.” Despite the definite article, no specific beach is implied. Thus we are actually saying, “On sunny days, people go to a beach.” “The beach” is a categorical determination, not a determination of a specific beach. The definite article’s purpose is only to determine the specific category, and not to determine the specific thing in the category. Likewise, when Matthew 5:1 says, “ανεβη εις το ορος,” “το” can be translated with the English indefinite article, signifying that the category of the location was a mountain as opposed to something else (e.g. town, beach). The NIV, which attempts to convey the sense of the passage, agrees with the KJV and reads, “he went up on a mountainside.”

	==Variation among languages==		==Variation among languages==

Nick at 11:42, 19 March 2016

2016-03-19T11:42:29Z

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	===Definite article===		===Definite article===
			;''See Also [[Definite article]]''

	A '''definite''' article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be the same thing that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite article in English is ''the''.		A '''definite''' article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be the same thing that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite article in English is ''the''.

Nick: /* Indefinite article */

2016-03-19T11:40:02Z

Indefinite article

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	===Indefinite article===		===Indefinite article===
			;''See Also [[Indefinite article]]''

	An '''indefinite''' article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general statement about any such thing. English uses ''a/an'', from the Old English forms of the number 'one', as its indefinite article. The form ''an'' is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as in ''an hour'', and ''a'' before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in ''a European'').		An '''indefinite''' article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general statement about any such thing. English uses ''a/an'', from the Old English forms of the number 'one', as its indefinite article. The form ''an'' is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as in ''an hour'', and ''a'' before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in ''a European'').

Beza 1598: /* External links */

2016-03-12T03:14:25Z

External links

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	[[Category:Parts of speech]]		[[Category:Parts of speech]]

			{{Donate}}

Nick: /* Variation among languages */

2010-10-15T16:38:11Z

Variation among languages

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	==Variation among languages==		==Variation among languages==

	[[Image:EuropeArticleLanguages.png\|thumb\|300px\|Articles in European languages {{legend\|darkblue\|indefinite and definite articles}} {{legend\|blue\|only definite articles}} {{legend\|darkmagenta\|indefinite and postfixed definite articles}} {{legend\|magenta\|only postfixed definite articles}} {{legend\|lightgray\|no articles}}]]		[[Image:EuropeArticleLanguages.png\|thumb\|300px\|Articles in European languages]]

	Among the world's most widely spoken languages, articles are found almost exclusively in [[Indo-European languages\|Indo-European]] and [[Semitic languages\|Semitic]] languages. Strictly speaking, [[Chinese language\|Chinese]], [[Japanese language\|Japanese]], [[Hindi]], [[Malay language\|Malay]], and [[Russian language\|Russian]] have no articles, but certain words can be used like articles, when needed.		Among the world's most widely spoken languages, articles are found almost exclusively in [[Indo-European languages\|Indo-European]] and [[Semitic languages\|Semitic]] languages. Strictly speaking, [[Chinese language\|Chinese]], [[Japanese language\|Japanese]], [[Hindi]], [[Malay language\|Malay]], and [[Russian language\|Russian]] have no articles, but certain words can be used like articles, when needed.

Nick: /* Indefinite article */

2010-10-15T16:37:36Z

Indefinite article

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	: ''She had '''a''' house so large that '''an''' elephant would get lost without '''a''' map.''		: ''She had '''a''' house so large that '''an''' elephant would get lost without '''a''' map.''

	Before some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent) ''h'' in an unstressed first syllable, such as ''hallucination'', ''hilarious'', ''historic(al)'', ''horrendous'', and ''horrific'', some (especially older) British writers prefer to use ''an'' over ''a'' (''an historical event'', etc.).<sup>[]</sup> ''An'' is also preferred before ''hotel'' by some writers of BrE (probably reflecting the relatively recent adoption of the word from French, where the ''h'' is not pronounced).<sup>[]</sup> The use of "an" before words beginning with an unstressed "h" is more common generally in BrE than American.<~~ref name=Peterspg1~~/> Such usage would now be seen as affected or incorrect in AmE.<sup>[]</sup> American writers normally use ''a'' in all these cases, although there are occasional uses of ''an historic(al)'' in AmE.<~~ref~~>~~Algeo, p. 49.~~</~~ref~~> According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, such use is increasingly rare in BrE too.<~~ref name="New Oxford"~~/> Unlike BrE, AmE typically uses ''an'' before ''herb'', since the ''h'' in this word is silent for most Americans.		Before some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent) ''h'' in an unstressed first syllable, such as ''hallucination'', ''hilarious'', ''historic(al)'', ''horrendous'', and ''horrific'', some (especially older) British writers prefer to use ''an'' over ''a'' (''an historical event'', etc.).<sup>[]</sup> ''An'' is also preferred before ''hotel'' by some writers of BrE (probably reflecting the relatively recent adoption of the word from French, where the ''h'' is not pronounced).<sup>[]</sup> The use of "an" before words beginning with an unstressed "h" is more common generally in BrE than American.<sup>[]</sup> Such usage would now be seen as affected or incorrect in AmE.<sup>[]</sup> American writers normally use ''a'' in all these cases, although there are occasional uses of ''an historic(al)'' in AmE.<sup>[]</sup> According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, such use is increasingly rare in BrE too.<sup>[]</sup> Unlike BrE, AmE typically uses ''an'' before ''herb'', since the ''h'' in this word is silent for most Americans.

	===Partitive article===		===Partitive article===

Nick at 16:37, 15 October 2010

2010-10-15T16:37:09Z

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	An '''article''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations\|abbreviated]] ~~{{sc\|~~'''~~art~~'''}}) is a [[word]] that combines with a [[noun]] to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical [[definiteness]] of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the [[English language]] are ''the'' and ''a/an''. 'An' and 'a' are modern forms of the Old English 'an', which in Anglian dialects was the number 'one' (compare 'on', in Saxon dialects) and survived into Modern Scots as the number 'ane'. Both 'on' (respelled 'one' by the Normans) and 'an' survived into Modern English, with 'one' used as the number and 'an' ('a', before nouns that begin with a consonant) as an indefinite article.		An '''article''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations\|abbreviated]] '''ART''') is a [[word]] that combines with a [[noun]] to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical [[definiteness]] of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the [[English language]] are ''the'' and ''a/an''. 'An' and 'a' are modern forms of the Old English 'an', which in Anglian dialects was the number 'one' (compare 'on', in Saxon dialects) and survived into Modern Scots as the number 'ane'. Both 'on' (respelled 'one' by the Normans) and 'an' survived into Modern English, with 'one' used as the number and 'an' ('a', before nouns that begin with a consonant) as an indefinite article.

	The word ''some'' is thus used as a functional plural of ''a/an''. "An apple" never means more than one apple. "Give me ''some'' apples" indicates more than one is desired but without specifying a quantity. This finds comparison in Spanish, where the indefinite article is completely indistinguishable from the single number, except that 'uno/una' ("one") has a plural form ('unos/unas'): ''Dame una manzana" ("Give me an apple") > "Dame ''unas'' manzanas" ("Give me some apples").		The word ''some'' is thus used as a functional plural of ''a/an''. "An apple" never means more than one apple. "Give me ''some'' apples" indicates more than one is desired but without specifying a quantity. This finds comparison in Spanish, where the indefinite article is completely indistinguishable from the single number, except that 'uno/una' ("one") has a plural form ('unos/unas'): ''Dame una manzana" ("Give me an apple") > "Dame ''unas'' manzanas" ("Give me some apples").

Nick: Protected "Article (grammar)" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

2010-10-15T16:35:38Z

Protected "Article (grammar)" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

← Older revision	Revision as of 16:35, 15 October 2010
(No difference)

Nick: New page: An '''article''' (abbreviated {{sc|'''art'''}}) is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Art...

2010-10-15T16:34:28Z

New page: An '''article''' (abbreviated {{sc|'''art'''}}) is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Art...

New page

An '''article''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''art'''}}) is a [[word]] that combines with a [[noun]] to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical [[definiteness]] of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the [[English language]] are ''the'' and ''a/an''. 'An' and 'a' are modern forms of the Old English 'an', which in Anglian dialects was the number 'one' (compare 'on', in Saxon dialects) and survived into Modern Scots as the number 'ane'. Both 'on' (respelled 'one' by the Normans) and 'an' survived into Modern English, with 'one' used as the number and 'an' ('a', before nouns that begin with a consonant) as an indefinite article.

The word ''some'' is thus used as a functional plural of ''a/an''. "An apple" never means more than one apple. "Give me ''some'' apples" indicates more than one is desired but without specifying a quantity. This finds comparison in Spanish, where the indefinite article is completely indistinguishable from the single number, except that 'uno/una' ("one") has a plural form ('unos/unas'): ''Dame una manzana" ("Give me an apple") > "Dame ''unas'' manzanas" ("Give me some apples").

Among the classical [[parts of speech]], articles are considered a special category of [[adjectives]]. Some modern linguists prefer to classify them within a separate part of speech, [[determiner (linguistics)|determiner]]s.

In languages that employ articles, every [[common noun]], with some exceptions, is expressed with a certain [[definiteness]] (e.g., definite or indefinite), just as many languages express every noun with a certain [[grammatical number]] (e.g., singular or plural). Every noun ''must'' be accompanied by the article, if any, corresponding to its definiteness, and the lack of an article (considered a ''[[zero article]]'') itself specifies a certain definiteness. This is in contrast to other adjectives and determiners, which are typically optional. This obligatory nature of articles makes them among the most common words in many languages—in English, for example, the most frequent word is ''the''.[]

==Types==
Articles are usually characterized as either ''definite'' or ''indefinite''.[] A few languages with well-developed systems of articles may distinguish additional subtypes.

Within each type, languages may have various forms of each article, according to grammatical attributes such as [[grammatical gender|gender]], [[grammatical number|number]], or [[grammatical case|case]], or according to adjacent sounds.

===Definite article===

A '''definite''' article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be the same thing that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite article in English is ''the''.

: '''''The''' children know '''the''' fastest way home.

The sentence above contrasts with the much more general observation that:

: Children know the fastest way home.

Likewise,

: ''Give me ''the'' book''

has a markedly different meaning in most English contexts from

: ''Give me ''a'' book.''

It can also be used to indicate a specific class among other classes:

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

But it should not be used to refer to a specimen:

: ''*'''The''' writing is '''the''' human invention.''

===Indefinite article===

An '''indefinite''' article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general statement about any such thing. English uses ''a/an'', from the Old English forms of the number 'one', as its indefinite article. The form ''an'' is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as in ''an hour'', and ''a'' before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in ''a European'').

: ''She had '''a''' house so large that '''an''' elephant would get lost without '''a''' map.''

Before some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent) ''h'' in an unstressed first syllable, such as ''hallucination'', ''hilarious'', ''historic(al)'', ''horrendous'', and ''horrific'', some (especially older) British writers prefer to use ''an'' over ''a'' (''an historical event'', etc.).[] ''An'' is also preferred before ''hotel'' by some writers of BrE (probably reflecting the relatively recent adoption of the word from French, where the ''h'' is not pronounced).[] The use of "an" before words beginning with an unstressed "h" is more common generally in BrE than American.<ref name=Peterspg1/> Such usage would now be seen as affected or incorrect in AmE.[] American writers normally use ''a'' in all these cases, although there are occasional uses of ''an historic(al)'' in AmE.<ref>Algeo, p. 49.</ref> According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, such use is increasingly rare in BrE too.<ref name="New Oxford"/> Unlike BrE, AmE typically uses ''an'' before ''herb'', since the ''h'' in this word is silent for most Americans.

===Partitive article===

A '''partitive''' article is a type of indefinite article used with a [[mass noun]] such as ''water'', to indicate a non-specific quantity of it. Partitive articles are used in [[French language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] in addition to definite and indefinite articles. The nearest equivalent in English is ''some'', although this is considered a [[Determiner (linguistics)|determiner]] and not an article.
: French: ''Voulez-vous '''du''' café ?''
: ''Do you want ('''some''') coffee?'' (or, dialectally but more accurately, ''Do you want '''some of this''' coffee?'')

:See also more information about [[French articles and determiners#The partitive article|the French partitive article]].

===Negative article===

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 (linguistics)|determiner]] rather than an article. In English, this function is fulfilled by ''no''.
: '''''No''' man is an island.''

===Zero article===

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.[] In English, the zero article rather than the indefinite is used with [[grammatical number|plurals]] and [[mass noun]]s, although the word "some" can be used as an indefinite plural article.

: ''Visitors walked in mud.''

==Variation among languages==

[[Image:EuropeArticleLanguages.png|thumb|300px|Articles in European languages {{legend|darkblue|indefinite and definite articles}} {{legend|blue|only definite articles}} {{legend|darkmagenta|indefinite and postfixed definite articles}} {{legend|magenta|only postfixed definite articles}} {{legend|lightgray|no articles}}]]

Among the world's most widely spoken languages, articles are found almost exclusively in [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] languages. Strictly speaking, [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Hindi]], [[Malay language|Malay]], and [[Russian language|Russian]] have no articles, but certain words can be used like articles, when needed.

Linguists believe the common ancestor of the [[Indo-European languages]], [[Proto-Indo-European language|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]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Persian language|Persian]], nor in some modern Indo-European languages, such as the [[Baltic languages]] and most [[Slavic languages]]. Although [[Ancient Greek|Classical]] [[Greek language|Greek]] has a definite article (which has survived into [[Modern Greek]] and which bears strong resemblance to the German definite article), the earlier [[Homeric Greek]] did not. Articles developed independently in several language families.

Not all languages have both definite and indefinite articles. [[Semitic languages]], such as [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], have only a definite article. It is far less common, however, for a language to have an indefinite article without having a definite article.

Some languages have different types of definite and indefinite articles to distinguish finer shades of meaning; for example, [[French language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] have a partitive article used for indefinite [[mass noun]]s, while [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] uses definite articles in a demonstrative sense, distinguishing ''this'' from ''that''. 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 [[grammatical gender|gender]], [[grammatical number|number]], or [[grammatical case|case]] of its noun. In some languages the article may be the only indication of the case, e.g., German ''Der Hut des Napoleon'', "Napoleon's hat". Many languages do not use articles at all, and may use other ways of indicating old versus new information, such as [[topic-comment]] constructions.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Articles used in the world's most widely spoken languages
|-
! Language
! definite article
! indefinite article
! partitive article
|-
| [[Arabic language|Arabic]]
| ''[[al-]]''
| (none)
|
|-
| [[English articles|English]]
| ''the''
| ''a'', ''an''
|
|-
| [[German articles|German]]
| ''der'', ''die'', ''das'' ''des'', ''dem'', ''den''
| ''ein'', ''eine'', ''einer'' ''einem'', ''einen''
|-
| [[Dutch language|Dutch]]
| ''de'', ''het'' ''de''
| ''een''
|
|-
| [[tamazight|Tamazight]]
| ''__''
| ''yan'', ''yat'' ''ittsn'',''ittsnt''
|
|-
| [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| ''el'', ''la'' ''los'', ''las''
| ''un'', ''una'' ''unos'', ''unas''
|
|-
| [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
| ''o'', ''a'' ''os'', ''as''
| ''um'', ''uma'' ''uns'', ''umas''
|
|-
| [[French articles|French]]
| ''le'', ''la'', ''l''' ''les''
| ''un'', ''une'' ''des''
| ''du'', ''de la'' ''de l''', ''des''
|-
| [[Italian language|Italian]]
| ''il'', ''lo'', ''la'', ''l''' ''i'', ''gli'', ''le''
| ''un'', ''uno'', ''una'', ''un'''
| ''del'', ''dello'', ''della'', ''dell''' ''dei'', ''degli'', ''degl' '', ''delle''
|}

In the above examples, the article always precedes its noun. In some languages, however, the definite article is not always a separate word, but may be postfixed, attached to the end of its noun as a suffix. For example,

* [[Albanian language|Albanian]]: ''plis'', a white fez, ''plis'''i''''' the white fez
* [[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''drum'', road; ''drum'''ul''''', the road
* [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]: ''hestur'', horse; ''hestur'''inn''''', the horse
* [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]: ''stol'', chair; ''stol'''en''''', the chair
* [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''hus'' house; ''hus'''et''''' the house
* [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]: стол ''stol'', chair; стол'''ът''' ''stolǎt'', the chair ([[Subject (grammar)|subject]]); стола ''stol'''a''''', the chair ([[Object (grammar)|object]])
* [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]: стол ''stol'', chair; стол'''от''' ''stolot'', the chair; стол'''ов''' ''stolov'', this chair; стол'''он''' ''stolon'', that chair

==Evolution==

Articles have developed independently in many different language families across the globe. Generally, articles develop over time usually by specialization of certain adjectives.

[[Joseph Greenberg]]
[]
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.

=== Definite articles ===

Definite articles typically arise from [[demonstrative]]s meaning ''that''. For example, the definite articles in the [[Romance languages]]—e.g., ''el'', ''il'', ''le'', ''la''—derive from the [[Latin]] demonstratives ''ille'' (masculine) and ''illa'' (feminine).

The [[English language|English]] definite article ''[[English articles|the]]'', written ''þe'' in [[Middle English]], derives from an [[Old English language|Old English]] demonstrative, which, according to [[grammatical gender|gender]], was written ''se'' (masculine), ''seo'' (feminine), or [[That|''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 (letter)|thorn]] (''þ'') came to be written as a ''y''.

Multiple demonstratives can give rise to multiple definite articles. [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], for example, in which the articles are suffixed, has ''столот'' (''stolot''), the chair; ''столов'' (''stolov''), this chair; and ''столон'' (''stolon''), that chair.

=== Indefinite articles ===

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 language|English]] indefinite article ''[[English articles|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]], e.g. transforming the original ''a napron'' into the modern ''an apron''.

==See also==
* [[English articles]]
* [[Al-]] (definite article in Arabic)
* [[Definiteness]]
* [[Definite description]]

==References==

==External links==
* [http://wals.info/feature/38 WALS - Feature/Chapter 38: Indefinite Articles]
* [http://wals.info/feature/37 WALS - Feature/Chapter 37: Definite Articles]

[[Category:Parts of speech]]