When distance fails to explain how to differentiate between this-these and that-those: a meta-operational approach to English demonstratives.
Résumé
Grammarians and teachers of English invariably explain the difference between this-these and that-those by referring to « inches », whether literally when spatial references are concerned – this book near at hand or that book over there on the shelf – or metaphorically when non spatial references are concerned – this nice girl or that awful girl. Unfortunately the « inch rule » fails to account for everyday occurrences. Objects that are near at hand and viewed positively can be referred to with that-those while things that are not even present and viewed negatively can be referred to with this-these. Such occurrences should be treated as exceptions or speakers’ whims.
Using the theoretical framework known as meta-operational grammar we propose to tackle the question in a far more satisfactory fashion. As we shall demonstrate, by choosing either this/these or that/those, the speaker attributes a status to the noun that is preceded by a demonstrative and this status depends on how the addressee is associated in his or her choice of noun. When most linguists agree that languages are based « on finite means for infinite usage » status proves to be a very productive means indeed.
Domaines
Linguistique
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