Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics

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Demonstratives
(2,513 words)

Demonstratives in Arabic dialects have different forms, depending on the region. In order to describe the main paradigms, this entry generalizes as much as possible and describes their general features rather than individual dialectal details.

In all Arabic dialects, there are two series of demonstratives, one conveying the idea of near deixis, with respect to the speaker, ‘this, these’, the other the idea of far deixis, which is associated with the interlocutor, ‘that, those’. This difference is not limited to a space opposition near/far…

Cite this page
Angeles Vicente, “Demonstratives”, in: Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Managing Editors Online Edition: Lutz Edzard, Rudolf de Jong. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_COM_0081>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004177024, 20090831



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