dimostrativo

Dimostrativo is a grammatical category used to indicate reference to a person, object, or idea in relation to the speaker or to the discourse context. In Italian linguistics, the term covers both demonstrative adjectives (determinativi) that modify a noun and demonstrative pronouns (sostituti) that replace a noun. Demonstratives help identify which item is being talked about and can encode information about proximity or distance.

Demonstrative adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender and number and appear directly before the noun. Common forms include near ones such as questo/questa/questi/queste and more distant ones such as quel/quella/quei/quelle or quello/quella/quei/quelle, with phonological adjustments before vowels (e.g., quell’). Demonstrative pronouns stand alone and can function as the subject or object of a sentence, as in Questo è interessante or Quello è difficile, where the noun is omitted.

In practice, demonstratives express proximity: near items are referred to with forms based on questo, questa, questi, queste; farther items use those based on quel/quela/quei/quelle or quello. Some languages also distinguish demonstratives by degree of distance beyond Italian’s proximal/distal distinction. Demonstratives may appear as determiners, preceding a noun, or as pronouns, replacing a noun and often accompanied by a determiner in longer phrases.

Cross-linguistically, demonstratives are a universal word class, typically encoding distance, definiteness, and sometimes gender or number. They are an essential component of reference systems in many languages, influencing both syntax and discourse cohesion.

See also: pronouns, determiners, demonstratives in other languages.