In recent years, the term ‘obviation’ has been applied to phenomena in a variety of languages on the basis of perceived similarity to the phenomenon in Algonquian languages to which, I assume, the term was originally applied. An example of a descriptive use of the term occurs in Dayley (1989: 136), who applies the terms ‘obviative’ and ‘proximate’ to two categories of demonstratives in Tümpisa ...

Abstract According to intentionalism, the semantic reference of uses demonstratives is fixed, at least partly, by speaker’s referential intention. In this paper, I argue against possibility existence a convention sort. My argument placed in Lewisian framework signaling games and consists several steps that correspond four anti-intentionalist arguments, already present literature, have proven in...

Yang (2004) observes that in Mandarin, an initial possessor phrase (PossessorP) may be followed by a bare noun as in (1), or by a possessee phrase that can be headed by a numeral and classifier, [Numeral + CL + N], as in (2) or by a demonstrative, [Dem + (Numeral) + CL + N] as in (3). (In all the examples in this section, we begin with Yang’s own initial glosses and translations. The interpreta...

This paper gives a novel analysis of identificational sentences such as This is Mary, That is a beautiful woman, or This looks like Mary based on the notion of a trope. On that analysis, bare demonstratives in the subject position of an identificational sentence involve reference to a trope as the direct object of perception and the sentence itself states the identification of the bearer of the...