In many languages the same demonstrative forms can be used either deictically (to point to some entity present in the speech act situation) or anaphorically (to refer back to some entity already mentioned in the previous discourse). In other languages deictic and anaphoric demonstratives are expressed by different forms, and in a subset of the latter group of languages the deictic and anaphoric demonstratives can co-occur, in a certain order. The two thus appear to be merged in different positions of the nominal extended projection, with deictic demonstratives arguably merged higher than anaphoric demonstratives, as is more clearly evident in certain languages. I submit that this is true of all languages even if most do not provide any overt indication of a different Merge positions. Some languages also appear to provide evidence that distal and proximal demonstratives are merged in distinct positions of the nominal extended projection.

Preliminary notes on the Merge position of deictic, anaphoric, distal and proximal demonstratives

Guglielmo Cinque
2020-01-01

Abstract

In many languages the same demonstrative forms can be used either deictically (to point to some entity present in the speech act situation) or anaphorically (to refer back to some entity already mentioned in the previous discourse). In other languages deictic and anaphoric demonstratives are expressed by different forms, and in a subset of the latter group of languages the deictic and anaphoric demonstratives can co-occur, in a certain order. The two thus appear to be merged in different positions of the nominal extended projection, with deictic demonstratives arguably merged higher than anaphoric demonstratives, as is more clearly evident in certain languages. I submit that this is true of all languages even if most do not provide any overt indication of a different Merge positions. Some languages also appear to provide evidence that distal and proximal demonstratives are merged in distinct positions of the nominal extended projection.
2020
Syntactic Architecture and Its Consequences: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives, Volume 2: Inside syntax.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3731139
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