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Russian, I believe, has no definite or indefinite article. How did it develop in Latin languages, particularly English? Would English be much poorer without it?

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Nice question! Many languages have articles, some are prepended (Scandinavian languages, Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian). Many other languages didn't have them at all. In fact Latin didn't have them but all the modern romance have them! – hippietrail May 28 '11 at 15:19
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I don't think this should have been closed since at least the part asking about the development of the English words a, and, and the is a valid and interesting question. Maybe the OP can salvage it with an edit? – hippietrail May 28 '11 at 15:32
I am closing this in its current form. The "would English be much poorer" part is subjective and argumentative, and the rest is not specific enough to English. You might be interested in supporting the Linguistics proposal. Also, do note that we already have a question about the etymology of “the”. And finally, "Latin languages, particularly English" — ಠ_ಠ. – RegDwighт♦ May 28 '11 at 15:37

closed as not a real question by Robusto, RegDwighт♦ May 28 '11 at 15:28

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.