ARTICLES

There are two kinds of articles in Tundrian: definite and indefinite.

The definite article (Eng. the)

The definite article precedes the noun it qualifies. It has eight different forms, one for each possible combination of gender, number and case. The full paradigm is given below:

The prepositions a (to, at) and de (of) combine with the article lo to give: al, del.

The definite article is used as in English, except in the following cases:

• Abstract nouns usually carry the definite article in Tundrian, but not in English: La bellitza vene avant lâ êtat (Beauty comes before age).
• The definite article is usual before geographical and astronomical entities (except for localities): La Francia és un bêl payeiz (France is a beautiful country); El Júpiter és la plus grand de las planeitas (Jupiter is the largest of the planets). BUT: Pariys és la capital franceisa (Paris is the French capital).
• After prepositions, however, the use of the definite article with proper and abstract nouns is much less common in Tundrian than, for example, in French. E.g.: la Estatzoun de Nord (Northern Station) [cf. French Gare du nord].
• The use of the definite article is optional with possessive adjectives, more common in the acc. sing. than otherwise. Its presence usually puts stress on the possessive relationship. E.g.: Mîa filha és bona estûdzanta (My daughter is a good student); BUT: La mîa filha és arripata primêra en sûa class (MY daughter came first in her class). With the accusative: Hoy vist lo tû filh en lâ banca hodzi (I saw your son in the bank today). In the latter sentence it would be unusual to leave off the definite article, because tû does not indicate case distinctions.

The indefinite article (Eng. a/an)

In form, the indefinite article in Tundrian is identical, in the singular, to the numeral 'one'. It has plural forms as well, however, which make case distinctions as well (unlike the singular forms). The complete paradigm is as follows:

In the singular the indef. art. is used pretty much as in English: Hoy una qüessoun por lo prêsident (I have a question for the president).

In the plural the indef. art. is used in most cases where English uses no article at all (or uses 'some'), and the meaning is rather indefinite: Uni caini lairavan al soldat quand traversava los villatxos ([Some] dogs would bark at the soldier while he crossed the villages).

The form es is used in the acc. pl. in a way similar to the use of the French partitive article (du, de la, des). E.g.: Hoy invitat es amiycs por celâ seira (I have invited (some) friends for tonight). If uns was used instead of es, the meaning would be more limiting (something like "two or three"): Hoy invitat uns amiycs por celâ seira (I have invited a couple of friends for tonight).

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