zeroarticle

Zero article refers to the absence of an article before a noun within a noun phrase. It is a feature of languages that do not use definite or indefinite articles, and it can also arise in languages with articles when a noun is used in a general, non-specific sense.

Many languages lack articles entirely, including Russian, Polish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. In such languages, nouns do not take equivalents of the English the or a/an, and definiteness or indefiniteness is conveyed by other means such as demonstratives, word order, or context.

In languages with articles, zero article often appears in English in several general contexts. English uses zero article with plural count nouns when referring to things generally (Dogs are loyal), with mass or uncountable nouns in general statements (Water is essential), and with proper nouns in many cases (New York is crowded). It also occurs in numeral constructions or certain fixed expressions (Three apples fell from the tree).

The study of zero article intersects with determiner systems, definiteness, countability, and typology. It is relevant to second language acquisition and to the analysis of how speakers infer specificity from context when no article is present. This concept is commonly discussed in linguistics under categories such as article systems, determiners, and noun phrase structure.