Artiklerdeterminerer

Artiklerdeterminerer is a linguistic term referring to the role of articles as determiners within noun phrases. An article is a type of determiner that expresses reference to a noun, signaling definiteness, indefiniteness, or specificity. The concept encompasses how languages encode whether a speaker refers to a particular known entity or to any member of a class.

In many languages, articles come in definite and indefinite forms. The definite article marks a specific entity, while the indefinite article signals a non-specific or newly introduced referent. Some languages, such as Danish and Norwegian, realize definiteness through the noun form itself (definite suffixes) or through a definite article placed before or after the noun, whereas others use separate words for definiteness (the) and indefiniteness (a/an). Other languages lack articles entirely; in those languages, definiteness may be conveyed by demonstratives, word order, or context.

Examples illustrate the range of realization. In English, "a cat" uses an indefinite article, while "the cat" uses a definite article. In Norwegian Bokmål, "en katt" means a cat (indefinite), while "katten" means the cat (definite); plural definite forms appear as "kattene." In Danish, the indefinite is "en hund" and the definite is "hunden," with plural definite "hundene" and indefinite plural "hunde."

The study of artiklerdeterminerer touches on syntax and morphology, including article placement, agreement with noun gender and number, and interactions with noun class and zero-article contexts. It highlights how a small set of determiners can shape reference, specificity, and discourse in languages.