Should 'one' be considered an article?



There is but one king, and I am one.



Here, the 'one' at the end of the sentence stands for 'one king' and 'one' is not specifying (in this particular place) a numeral. It is implying 'I am that one' or, more specifically 'I am that one king'.


Therefore, should 'one', when used in this way, not be considered an article with a well deserved place in the much documented sequence :



zero ... some ... a/an ... the ... null



And, if so, where in the sequence should it be inserted ?



Zero example : Who would wish to be king ?


Some example : There are some kings, it is so.


Indefinite example : I am a king and everyone knows it.


Definite example : They respect the king, thus they respect me.


Null example : Many wish to be king but the fact is that I am King.




Reference 1 : Stack Exchange - Why is 'any' not an article ?


Reference 2 : Acquisition of the Zero and Null Articles (Peter Masters)



Answer



Although one and a/an are etymologically related and often used in nearly the same way, only a/an is an article.


At a cursory glance, it would appear that their usage is still pretty similar:



He is a king I trust.
He is one king I trust.



However, there is (at least) one big difference — you can only use one article at once:



*He is the a king I trust.
He is the one king I trust.



Another example: "a one Mr. Jeremiah Swigg"


A smaller difference is that Big Mess Constructions only work with a/an:



This is such a grammatical example.
*This is such one ungrammatical example.



For both of these reasons (and probably some others), one should not be considered an article.


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