The Article and the Concept of Definiteness in Language (Janua Linguarum. Series Minor)

However, the article is not present in all languages; it is, according to R. de la Grasserie, 9 "... un organe complémentaire qui s'ajoute en présence de certains besoins psychiques d'expression, lesquels sinon le créent, du moins le développent et lui donnent seuls une existence personnelle autonome". On the other hand, we must keep in mind that the category of determinedness vs. indeterminedness, which is most frequently expressed just by the article, is a universal category and in many languages it is expressed by non-formal means, the article in the usual sense of the word being absent in them. Later we will discuss even these cases. Before presenting our own opinion of articles and explaining the essence of the category of determinedness vs. indeterminedness we will make the reader acquainted with at least the most important theories of article. In our opinion, the best survey of important theories of articles is contained in chapter III of Paul Christophersen's book, whereas chapter IV of the same book presents the author's own theory of articles. Our discussion makes full use of Christophersen's comments. First we will mention some basic definitions of article. The most simple definition states that the role of the article is to designate an object as familiar. 10 According to J. Haas, 11 "das sprachliche Korrelat der Determinationsvorstellung wird als bestimmter Artikel, und das sprachliche Korrelat der Indeterminationsvorstellung wird als unbestimmter Artikel bezeichnet". According to G. Guillaume 12