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 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, e.g., transforming the original a napron into the modern an apron.
The Persian indefinite article is yek meaning one.
Read more about this topic: Article (grammar), Evolution
Famous quotes containing the words indefinite and/or articles:
“... indefinite visions of ambition are weak against the ease of doing what is habitual or beguilingly agreeable.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“It was not sufficient for the disquiet of our minds that we disputed at the end of seventeen hundred years upon the articles of our own religion, but we must likewise introduce into our quarrels those of the Chinese. This dispute, however, was not productive of any great disturbances, but it served more than any other to characterize that busy, contentious, and jarring spirit which prevails in our climates.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)