Universal #1167

Legacy number: 1167

 Number  1163
 Original  If a language has a grammaticalized indefinite article, it is likely to also have a definite article, while the reverse does not necessarily hold true.
 Standardized  IF there is an indefinite article, THEN there is also a definite article.
 Formula  indefinite article ⇒ definite article
 Keywords  indefinite article, definite article
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic but presumably diachronically motivated
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  106 languages surveyed in Moravcsik 1969
 Source  Heine 1997: 69, based on Moravcsik 1969

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Discussion
Counterexamples
[Modern] Aztec (Uto-Aztecan); Bambara (Mande, Niger-Congo); Romani (Indic, Indo-European); Rotuman, Sundanese (both Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian)
Notes
The reverse generalization — that languages with definite articles also have indefinite ones — is supported by less than 40% of the languages surveyed (Heine 1997: 69).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
The reverse generalization – that languages with definite articles also have indefinite ones – is supported by less than 40% of the languages surveyed (Heine 1997: 69).