Editing Demonstrative (section)

==Contrasts in demonstrative systems==
===Distal and proximal demonstratives===
{{anchor|distal|proximal}}
Many languages, such as [[Standard english|English]] and [[Chinese language|Standard Chinese]], make a two-way distinction between demonstratives. Typically, one set of demonstratives is '''proximal''', indicating objects close to the speaker (English ''this''), and the other series is '''distal''', indicating objects further removed from the speaker (English ''that'').

Other languages, like [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Kalenjin language|Nandi]], [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], [[Latin]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Italian language|Italian]] (in some formal writing), [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Serbo-Croatian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Euskera|Basque]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], and [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Sri Lankan Tamil]] make a three-way distinction.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |editor1-last=Symanzik |editor1-first=Bernhard |editor2-last=Birkfellner |editor2-first=Gerhard |editor3-last=Sproede |editor3-first=Alfred |title=Die Übersetzung als Problem sprach- und literaturwissenschaftlicher Forschung in Slavistik und Baltistik: Beiträge zu einem Symposium in Münster 10./11. Mai 2001 |series=Studien zur Slavistik ; vol. 1 |publisher=Dr. Kovač |pages=89–91 |language=de |chapter=Demonstrativpronomina in den slavischen Sprachen |trans-chapter=Demonstrative pronouns in the Slavic languages |chapter-url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/447083.DEMONSTRATIVPRONOMINA.PDF |location=Hamburg |year=2002 |isbn=3-8300-0714-0 |oclc=55730212 |s2cid=224110091 |ssrn=3434530 |id={{CROSBI|447083}} |archive-date=24 August 2012 | archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6A9uAwAWF?url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/447083.DEMONSTRATIVPRONOMINA.PDF |url-status=live |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref> Typically there is a distinction between '''proximal''' or first person (objects near to the speaker), '''medial''' or second person (objects near to the [[Interlocutor (linguistics)|addressee]]), and '''distal''' or third person<ref>{{cite web|last=Manosso|first=Radamés|title=Demonstrativos|url=http://www.radames.manosso.nom.br/gramatica/demonstrativos.htm|work=Gramática Descritiva|access-date=27 May 2011|language=pt}}</ref> (objects far from both). So for example, in Portuguese:
:* ''Esta maçã''
:                   "this apple"
:* ''Essa maçã''
:                   "that apple (near you)"
:* ''Aquela maçã''
:                   "that apple (over there, away from both of us)"<ref group="note">In Brazilian Portuguese "este" (this) is sometimes reduced to "es'e", making it sound like "esse" (that).</ref>

Further oppositions are created with place adverbs.
:* ''Essa maçã aqui''
:                   "this apple (next to me or next to you-and-me)"
:* ''Essa maçã aí''
:                   "that apple (next to you)"
:* ''Aquela maçã ali''
:                   "that apple (close to you-and-me)"
:* ''Aquela maçã lá''
:                   "that apple (which is far from you-and-me or is in another distant place from you-and-me)"

in Italian (medial pronouns, in most of Italy, only survive in historical texts and bureaucratic texts. However, they're of wide and very common usage in some Regions, like Tuscany):
:* ''Questa mela''
:                   "this apple"
:* ''Codesta mela''
:                   "that apple (near you)"
:* ''Quella mela''
:                    "yon apple (over there, away from both of us)"

in Hawaiian:
:* ''Kēia ʻukulele''
:                   "this ukulele"
:* ''kēnā ʻukulele''
:                   "that ukulele (near you)"
:* ''kēlā ʻukulele''
:                   "yon ukulele (over there, away from both of us)"

in Armenian (based on the proximal "s", medial "d/t", and distal "n"):
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|այս խնձորը|ays khndzorë|"this apple"}}
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|այդ խնձորը|ayd khndzorë|"that apple (near you)"}}
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|այն խնձորը|ayn khndzorë|"yon apple (over there, away from both of us)"}}

and, in Georgian:
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|ამისი მამა|amisi mama|"this one's father"}}
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|იმისი ცოლი|imisi coli|"that one's wife"}}
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|მაგისი სახლი|magisi saxli|"that (by you) one's house"}}

and, in Ukrainian (note that Ukrainian has not only number, but also three [[grammatical gender]]s in singular):
:* цей чоловік, ця жінка, це яблуко, ці яблука
:                   "this man", "this woman", "this apple", "these apples"
:* той чоловік, та жінка, те яблуко, ті яблука
:                   "that man", "that woman", "that apple", "those apples"
:* он той чоловік, он та жінка, он те яблуко, он ті яблука
:                   "yon man (over there, away from both of us)", "that woman (over there, away from both of us)", "yon apple (over there, away from both of us)", "yons apples (over there, away from both of us)"

and, in Japanese:
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|この リンゴ|kono ringo|"this apple"}}
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|その リンゴ|sono ringo|"that apple"}}
{{fs interlinear|indent=3|あの リンゴ|ano ringo|"that apple (over there)"}}

In Nandi (Kalenjin of Kenya, Uganda and Eastern Congo):

''Chego chu, Chego choo, Chego chuun''

"this milk", "that milk" (near the second person) and "that milk" (away from the first and second person, near a third person or even further away).

[[Ancient Greek]] has a three-way distinction between [[wikt:ὅδε#Ancient Greek|ὅδε]] (''hóde'' "this here"), [[wikt:οὗτος|οὗτος]] (''hoûtos'' "this"), and [[wikt:ἐκεῖνος#Ancient Greek|ἐκεῖνος]] (''ekeînos'' "that").

[[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Seri language|Seri]] also make this distinction. [[French language|French]] has a two-way distinction, with the use of postpositions "-ci" (proximal) and "-là" (distal) as in ''cet homme-ci'' and ''cet homme-là'', as well as the pronouns ''ce'' and ''cela''/''ça''. English has an archaic but occasionally used three-way distinction of ''this'', ''that'', and ''yonder''.

[[Arabic]] has also a three-way distinction in its formal [[Classical Arabic|Classical]] and [[Modern Standard Arabic|Modern Standard]] varieties. Very rich, with more than 70 variants, the demonstrative pronouns in Arabic principally change depending on the gender and the number. They mark a distinction in number for singular, dual, and plural. For example:
:* {{lang|ar|هذا الرجل}} (''haːðaː arrajul'') 'this man'.
:* {{lang|ar|ذاك الرجل}} (''ðaːka arrajul'') 'that man'.
:* {{lang|ar|ذلك الرجل}} (''ðaːlika arrajul'') 'that man' (over there).

In [[Modern German]] (and the [[Scandinavian languages]]), the non-selective deictic '''''das''' Kind'', '''''der''' Kleine'', '''''die''' Kleine'' and the selective one '''''das''' Kind'', '''''der''' Kleine'', '''''die''' Kleine'' are homographs, but they are spoken differently. The non-selective deictics are unstressed whereas the selective ones (demonstratives) are stressed. There is a second selective deictic, namely '''''dieses''' Kind'', '''''dieser''' Kleine'', '''''diese''' Kleine''. Distance either from the speaker or from the addressee is either marked by the opposition between these two deictics or by the addition of a place deictic.

Distance-marking Thing Demonstrative
:                   ''dieses Mädchen'' ~ ''das Mädchen''
:                   "this girl" ~ "that girl"

Thing Demonstrative plus Distance-marking Place Demonstrative
:                   ''das Mädchen hier'' ~ ''das Mädchen da''
:                   ''dieses Mädchen hier'' ~ ''dieses Mädchen da''
:                   "this girl here" ~ "that girl over there"

A distal demonstrative exists in [[German language|German]], cognate to the English ''yonder'', but it is used only in formal registers.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Hopkins | first1 = Edwin A. | last2 = Jones | first2 = Randall L. | date = Spring 1972 | title = "Jener" in Modern Standard German | journal = Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | pages = 15–27 | jstor = 3529001 | publisher = American Association of Teachers of German | doi = 10.2307/3529001}}</ref>
:                   ''jenes Mädchen''
:                   "yonder girl"

Cognates of "yonder" still exist in some Northern English and Scots dialects;

:"This shop here"

:"That shop across the street"

:"Yon shop down the street"
:(that shop that is/used to be down the street)

There are languages which make a four-way distinction, such as [[Northern Sami]]:
:* ''Dát biila''
:                   "this car"
:* ''Diet biila''
:                   "that car (near you)"
:* ''Duot biila''
:                   "that car (over there, away from both of us but rather near)"
:* ''Dot biila''
:                   "that car (over there, far away)"
:
These four-way distinctions are often termed proximal, '''mesioproximal''', '''mesiodistal''', and distal.

=== Non-distal contrasts ===
Many non-European languages make further distinctions; for example, whether the object referred to is uphill or downhill from the speaker, whether the object is visible or not (as in [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]]), and whether the object can be pointed to as a whole or only in part. The [[Eskimo–Aleut languages]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alaskool.org/LANGUAGE/central_yupik/yupik.html |title=Central Yup'ik and the Schools |author=Steven A. Jacobson |year=1984 |access-date=2007-05-24 |publisher=University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research}}</ref> and the [[Kiranti languages|Kiranti]] branch<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~bickel/research/projects/belhare/ |title=A short introduction to Belhare and its speakers |author=Balthasar Bickel |year=1998 |access-date=2009-03-16}}</ref> of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan language family]] are particularly well known for their many contrasts.

The demonstratives in [[Seri language|Seri]] are compound forms based on the definite articles (themselves derived from verbs) and therefore incorporate the positional information of the articles (standing, sitting, lying, coming, going) in addition to the three-way [[Three-dimensional space|spatial]] distinction. This results in a quite elaborated set of demonstratives.