Deixis: relative location encoded in demonstratives
| Values: | Med | Prox | Remt |
Deixis is typically a feature of demonstrative pronouns, determiners, and adverbs. Its value classifies the location of the referred entity with respect to the location of the speaker or of the hearer.
Armenian makes a three-way distinction between demonstratives.
Prox: proximal
The entity is close to the reference point (e.g., to the speaker).
Examples
- սա/sa “this”, ասիկա/asika “this”, այսպէս/ayspēs “this way, like this”, այսքան/ayskʼan “this many”, հոս/hos “here”, սոյն/sowyn “this”
Med: medial
The entity is neither close nor far away from the reference point (e.g., from the speaker).
Examples
- դա/da “that”, ադիկա/adika “that”, այդպէս/aydpēs “that way”, այդքան/aydkʼan “that many”, հոդ/hod “there”
Remt: remote, distal
The entity is far away from the reference point (e.g., from the speaker).
Examples
- այն/ayn “that”, անիկա/anika “that”, այնպէս/aynpēs “that way”, այնքան/aynkʼan “that many”, հոն/hon “there”, նոյն/nowyn “same”
Deixis in other languages: [aqz] [axm] [bej] [ha] [hy] [hyw] [mpu] [naq] [pal] [qpm] [u] [xcl]