Demonstratives: A cross-linguistic typology

A typology is presented of parameters of variation associated with three main types of demonstratives: nominal (corresponding to demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives in traditional terminology), local adverbial and verbal. The paper surveys their basis characteristics; forms (including relationship to articles and interrogatives); deictic, syntactic, anaphoric and other functions; and types of reference — spatial, height and stance, visibility, etc. There is a case study of demonstratives in Dyirbal, and an array of questions which can usefully be pursued when investigating demonstratives in a given language.