Articles are found in many Indo-European languages, Semitic languages, Polynesian languages, and even language isolates such as Basque; however, they are formally absent from many of the world's major languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, many Turkic languages (including Tatar, Bashkir, Tuvan and Chuvash), many Uralic languages (incl. Finnic and Saami languages), Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, the Dravidian languages (incl. Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada), the Baltic languages, the majority of Slavic languages, the Bantu languages (incl. Swahili). In some languages that do have articles, such as some North Caucasian languages, the use of articles is optional; however, in others like English and German it is mandatory in all cases.
Articles are found in many Indo-European languages, Semitic languages, Polynesian languages, and even language isolates such as Basque; however, they are formally absent from many of the world's major languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, many Turkic languages (in?cluding Tatar, Ba.shkir, Tuvan and Chuvash), many Uralic languages (incl. Finnic and Saami languages), Hindi-Urdu, Pun!jabi, the Dravidian languages (incl. Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada), the Baltic languages, the majority of Slavic languages, the Bantu languages (incl. Swahili). In some languages that do have articles, such as some North Caucasian languages, the use of articles is optional; however, in others like English and German it is mandatory in all cases.