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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 Master)

Edwin Ashworth
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Nigel J
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    No, not an article, not a determiner, but a common noun functioning as subjective predicative complement. It is of course a pro-form - we understand it to mean "a king". – BillJ Jan 10 '18 at 20:22
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    "A/an" and "one" are etymologically related, but cannot be used entirely interchangeably. For example, Big Mess Constructions: "such a grammatical example" vs. "such one ungrammatical example". – Laurel Jan 10 '18 at 20:23
  • If it is a pro-form, but not a pronoun, then could it be considered as a pro-article ? – Nigel J Jan 10 '18 at 20:26
  • No, a pro-NP. That it is a common noun is evident from the fact that it can take a determiner ("I am the one") and it has an inflectional contrast between singular and plural ("we are the ones"). – BillJ Jan 10 '18 at 20:27
  • In the expression 'one is not amused' is 'one' a pronoun, meaning 'I am not amused' or is it an article, meaning 'one person (unspecified)' is not amused ? Is an unspecified numeral not (really) an article ? – Nigel J Jan 10 '18 at 20:33
  • In that example, "one" is a personal pronoun, a special kind of 3rd person pronoun. – BillJ Jan 10 '18 at 20:37
  • MW lists one as an adjective, noun, and pronoun. – Davo Jan 10 '18 at 20:41
  • One is the third person non-specific indefinite pronoun. Cf: I'm looking for a policeman, but I can't find him (here a policeman is a specific indefinite NP) vs I'm looking for a policeman, but I can't find one (here it's non-specific). – John Lawler Jan 10 '18 at 20:42
  • I am looking for paper to write on; I was hoping to find some.' Is not 'some' an article, in this place ? – Nigel J Jan 10 '18 at 20:45
  • I wouldn't say so. In English at leat, as far as I know the term "article" is not used for words that can stand on their own, like "some" in that sentence. – herisson Jan 10 '18 at 20:51
  • @sumelic I think that is the answer. 'One' can stand alone - unlike a/an/the - therefore it is not fulfilling the same function. Thank you. – Nigel J Jan 10 '18 at 20:52
  • @NigelJ Are you clear that the second "one" in your original example (There is but one king, and I am one) is a common noun, not a pronoun, for the two reasons I gave earlier? – BillJ Jan 10 '18 at 21:48
  • @BillJ 'One is never alone with schizophrenia' demonstrates, I think, the breadth of its usage. – Nigel J Jan 10 '18 at 22:27
  • @NigelJ "One" belongs to three parts of speech. In One is never alone with schizophrenia, it is a straightforward 3rd person personal pronoun. In There is but one king, and I am one, it is a common noun. As a cardinal number in, for example, One car rolled on its side, it is a determinative. It's important to recognise the three different categories (parts of speech). – BillJ Jan 11 '18 at 08:11
  • "There is but one king, and I am a." "There is but one king, and I am the." Neither of these work. So why does this sentence indicate to you that "one" should be considered an article in that position? – Kyle Delaney May 11 '18 at 13:28
  • Of course “one” should be considered an article, as should “any” or “another” and no few other words, but they’re not.

    I think "There is but one king, and I am one" is a mistake, at best. There are complicated circumstances in which that could be forced to work and was that what you were asking?

    "There is but one king, and I am he/him/it“ work because they don't misuse "one."

    Quite clearly without a “that”, the final “one” does not stand for “one king”, nor is it implying “I am that one (king)”. Your search engine of choice will demonstrate that by failing to find examples.

     – Robbie Goodwin May 23 '18 at 22:57

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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.

Laurel
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    What does your answer have to do with the OP's question, which was about the second one in There is but one king, and I am one? – BillJ Jan 11 '18 at 08:29