Article. General notion

1.2 Articles in English

There are two articles in Modern English which are called the indefinite and the definite article. The absence of the article, which may be called the zero article, also specifies the noun and has significance.

The indefinite article has the forms a and an. The form a is used before words beginning with a consonant sound (a book, a table, a door). The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound (an apple, an hour, an aim). The article is pronounced [ə], [ən]; when stressed it is pronounced [eı], [жn].

1.2.1 The Definite Article in English
The definite article has one graphic form the, which is pronounced in two ways: [∂ı:] before a vowel sound [∂ı: ΄жpl] and [∂ə] before a consonant sound [∂ə ΄pen]. This article is used before nouns in the plural, as well as before nouns in the singular number.

1.2.2 The History of the Definite Article in English
Examining the definite article by M.A. Gashina’s book “English Grammar Higher School” we find some words about its history. The linguist says that the definite article the is a weakened form of the Old English demonstrative pronoun se (nominative se; dative ΄южm; accusative ΄юone, etc.) which in Old English, besides the function of a demonstrative, had also the function of the definite article. The form “se” was in the masculine gender, “seo”- feminine, and “южt”- neuter. en./wiki/English_articles source gives the information that in Middle English all these kinds of the demonstrative pronoun had merged into юe, the ancestor of the Modern English word the. It says that in Middle English the (юe) was frequently abbreviated as a ю with a small e above it, similar to the abbreviation for that, which was a ю with a small t above it. During the latter Middle English and Early Modern English periods, the letter Thorn (ю) in its common script, or cursive form came to resemble a у shape. As such the use of a у with an e above it as an abbreviation became common. This can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the King James “Version of the Bible” in places such as Romans 15:29 or in the Mayflower Compact. The article was never pronounced with a у sound, even so written.
One of the linguists who were interested in the history of the English language - Barbara M. H. Strang, in her book “A History of English” states that the definite article was by 1170 only marginally related to the pronoun system. It had two distinct types throughout the period. In most parts of the country it was indeclinable юe, later the, or at the very most it varied between singular юe and plural юa. However, in the S and SW Mid it was declinable, with three genders in the singular and up to four cases. Where it had declinable forms they were the same as those for the ‘further’- demonstrative, that, since, in fact, they had originated in a special use of that form. The forms set out below were in some parts only demonstrative, in others they had double function; they are presented for reference-purposes, but they tend to suggest far more differentiation than most speakers knew. In the masc sg there were four forms: se, subj; юene, юane, acc; юan, юene, Kt юa(Kentish), later юo, dat (i.e., some speakers reduced the case-system to three even here). The fem sg usually had three forms: seo, si (SW and SE) subj; юa, later юo, enclitic to, oblique; юer, южre, gen. The neuter (like the 3rd person pronoun) had the same form for subj and direct obj юet or юat (according to dialect, but a tended to invade e-areas, as a weak form, or by internal borrowing, or both); the dat was usually юan, the gen юes or юas . In the plural all the genders had subj-obj юa, later юo, dat or oblique юan, gen юere.
The linguist emphasizes that after the very beginning of Middle English period, and outside Kt, case and gender distinctions , in article or demonstrative, occur only patchily, and then in circumstances showing that their historical functions have been forgotten. Otherwise, except for some persistence of plural tho, the definite article has become fully indeclinable by the end of the period.
As the definite article comes from the demonstrative pronoun of Old English it had preserved its demonstrative meaning that is still felt in such expressions as nothing of the (that) kind; at the (that) time; under the (those) circumstances; for the (that) purpose; The lady (= this lady) is waiting to see you.
Thus we can draw the conclusion that the definite article takes its origin from the Old English demonstrative pronoun se which was declinable in conformity with the gender, number and case of the noun it modified. Later in the Middle English it changed into юe with nouns in singular and юa with nouns in plural that became the in the Present-day English. The definite article retained its demonstrative meaning throughout all the periods of the English language development and nowadays its first and most important meaning is one of a demonstrative.