Indefinite Articles
Nouns and pronouns · one world map for each value
WALS codes 534 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “Neither indefinite nor definite”, covers 198 of them (37%); the least frequent, “Indefinite affix on noun”, covers 24.
That value is most frequent in South America (74% of the 42 languages coded there) and least frequent in Africa (25% of 135).
Among families with at least eight coded languages, Eastern Sudanic is the most uniform: 7 of 11 have “Neither indefinite nor definite”.
Afro-Asiatic is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 12 of 39.
Indefinite word distinct from numeral for 'one'102 languages · 19%
Numeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article112 languages · 21%
Indefinite affix on noun24 languages · 4%
No indefinite article but definite article98 languages · 18%
Neither indefinite nor definite198 languages · 37%
One map per value; each dot is a language WALS codes with that value.
By macro-area
| Value | Africa | Eurasia | Papunesia | Australia | North America | South America |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite word distinct from numeral for 'one' | 34 | 18 | 43 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Numeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article | 13 | 47 | 26 | 2 | 19 | 5 |
| Indefinite affix on noun | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| No indefinite article but definite article | 43 | 10 | 19 | 4 | 18 | 4 |
| Neither indefinite nor definite | 34 | 64 | 39 | 11 | 19 | 31 |
| All values | 135 | 143 | 129 | 17 | 68 | 42 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austronesian | 81 | Indefinite word distinct from numeral for 'one' | 40% |
| Niger-Congo | 62 | No indefinite article but definite article | 35% |
| Indo-European | 44 | Numeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article | 34% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 41 | Neither indefinite nor definite | 49% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 39 | No indefinite article but definite article | 31% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 21 | Neither indefinite nor definite | 38% |
| Altaic | 15 | Neither indefinite nor definite | 53% |
| Uto-Aztecan | 14 | Neither indefinite nor definite | 36% |
| Eastern Sudanic | 11 | Neither indefinite nor definite | 64% |
| Oto-Manguean | 10 | Numeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article | 60% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- Indefinite word distinct from numeral for 'one': English, Hungarian, Japanese, Amele, Hausa, Supyire
- Numeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article: French, Spanish, Turkish, Lezgian, Basque, German
- Indefinite affix on noun: Lango, Nama, Ladakhi, Ijo (Kolokuma), Limbu, Nambikuára (Southern)
- No indefinite article but definite article: Indonesian, Malagasy, Arabic (Egyptian), Tukang Besi, Mapudungun, Maybrat
- Neither indefinite nor definite: Russian, Finnish, Korean, Evenki, Khalkha, Hindi