demostrativo

Demostrativo, in linguistics often called demonstrative in English, is a grammatical category used to indicate the deictic reference or the proximity of a referent to the speaker or to the discourse context. Demonstratives can function as determiners that accompany a noun (this book, those students) or as pronouns on their own (this, these, that, those). Some languages also have neuter forms used as stand-ins (this/that in English, esto/eso/aquello in others).

In English, the common system is two-way: proximal forms this/these for entities near the speaker and distal forms that/those for entities farther away. Many languages distinguish three or more degrees of distance, such as proximal, medial, and distal, sometimes with separate gender or number concord. Spanish provides a four-term system in many contexts: este/esta/estos/estas for near reference, ese/esa/esos/esas for farther reference, and aquel/aquella/aquellos/aquellas for distant reference, with neuter forms esto, eso, aquello used as pronouns without a noun. Other languages combine demonstratives with gesture or context, and some use demonstratives that must align with noun class or gender.

Usage and function: demonstratives help anchor reference in space or discourse, signal definiteness or specificity, and track the speaker’s perspective. They can modify nouns (demonstrative adjectives) or replace nouns (demonstrative pronouns). They also participate in anaphoric reference, pointing back to previously mentioned entities, and in deictic expressions tied to the discourse situation.

See also: deixis, pronoun, determiner, deictic expression.