For the word class, see Determiner (class). For the function in NP structure, see Determiner (function). ...

A determiner is a noun modifier that expresses the reference of a noun or noun phrase in the context, including quantity, rather than attributes expressed by adjectives. This function is usually performed by articles, demonstratives, possessive determiners, quantifiers, cardinal numbers, or ordinal numbers. In English, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which can co-occur with (in)definite articles and attributive adjectives, and function as the head of a noun phrase. ... An adjective is a part of speech that modifies a noun or a pronoun, usually by describing it or making its meaning more specific. ... An article is a word that is next to a noun or any word that modifies a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. ... // Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference) that indicate which entities a speaker refers to, and distinguishes those entities from others. ... A possessive adjective, also called a possessive determiner or possessive article, is a part of speech that modifies a noun by attributing ownership to someone or something (with some exceptions noted below). ... In language and logic, quantification is a construct that specifies the extent of validity of a predicate, that is the extent to which a predicate holds over a range of things. ... Aleph-0, the smallest infinite cardinal In mathematics, cardinal numbers, or cardinals for short, are a generalized kind of number used to denote the size of a set. ... Commonly, ordinal numbers, or ordinals for short, are numbers used to denote the position in an ordered sequence: first, second, third, fourth, etc. ...

In most Indo-European languages, determiners are either independent words or clitics that precede the rest of the noun phrase. In other languages, determiners are prefixed or suffixed to the noun, or even change the noun's form. For example, in Swedish bok "book", when definite, becomes boken "the book" (suffixed definite articles are common in Scandinavian languages). Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... In linguistics, a clitic is an element that has some of the properties of an independent word and some more typical of a bound morpheme. ... In linguistics, a prefix is a type of affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach. ... Look up affix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ...

In some constructions, such as those which use the names of school subjects ("Physics uses mathematics"), a determiner is not used. This condition is called the "zero determiner" instance.

X-bar theory contends that every noun has a corresponding determiner. In a case where a noun does not have a pronounced determiner, X-bar theory hypothesizes the presence of a zero article. X-bar theory is a component of linguistic theory which attempts to identify syntactic features common to all languages. ... X-bar theory is a component of linguistic theory which attempts to identify syntactic features common to all languages. ... A zero article is an unpronounced article present in some languages. ...

English determiners

The determiner function is usually performed by the determiner class of words, but can also be filled by word from other entities: For the function in NP structure, see Determiner (function). ...

1. Basic determiners are words from the determiner class (e.g., the girl, those pencils) or determiner phrases (e.g., almost all people, more than two problems).
2. Subject determiners are possessive noun phrases (e.g., his daughter, the boy's friend).
3. Minor determiners are plain NPs (what colour carpet, this size shoes) and prepositional phrases (under twenty meters, up to twelve people)

In linguistics, a determiner phrase is a syntactic category, a phrase headed by a determiner. ...

See also

• Determiner phrase

In linguistics, a determiner phrase is a syntactic category, a phrase headed by a determiner. ...

External links

• SIL Glossary of linguistic terms - What is a determiner?