German articles as a means of expressing identity

The present paper is devoted to the analysis of the potential for expressing identity of the German article as a systemic means of individualization and classification. The purpose of the study is to identify the main ways of expressing identity using the definite and indefinite articles in the German language. The material for the analysis includes a representative sample of 100 contexts that verbalize various types of identity, formed using corpora of the DWDS collection, as well as a research corpus built on its basis. The study implements methods of quantitative and qualitative data analysis (QDA), interpretation with elements of contextual analysis. The results obtained during the study demonstrate the 3 most frequent syntactic models represented by existential structures that include the definite or indefinite article, to express identity in the German language. The identified models enable the author to identify two main types of identity expressed upon the use of the category of article: inherent, associated with the innate and unchangeable qualities of a person, and situationally determined identity – prescribed by external factors and the speaker’s choice of the level of identification – to the level of a class member or a personality, thus, changeable identity. At the same time, both inherent and situationally determined identity include a structure with three subtypes. The results are intended to draw attention to the need to reconsider the role and functions of the article from the position of the modern cognitive paradigm in linguistics and to offer a way to systematically understand the mechanisms of the functioning of salience and classification in the construction of identity. Prospects for further research include consideration of the possibility of using null article for construction of identity and analysis of the use of article based on the material of other languages.