When distance fails to explain how to differentiate between this-these and that-those : a new approach to demonstratives in English.
Résumé
Grammarians and teachers of English invariably explain the difference between this-these and that-those by referring to « inches », whether literally when spatial references are concerned – this book near at hand or that book over there on the shelf – or metaphorically when non spatial references are concerned – this nice girl or that awful girl. Examples used to corroborate the « rule » are most of the time made up for the occasion. Unfortunately the « inch rule » fails to account for everyday occurrences as we shall prove. Objects that are near at hand and viewed positively can be referred to with that-those while things that are not even present and viewed negatively can be referred to with this-these. Such occurrences should not be treated as exceptions and be taken into consideration. Using the theoretical frame work known under the name of meta-operational grammar we propose to tackle the question in a far more satisfactory fashion. As we shall try to demonstrate, by choosing either this/these or that/those, the speaker attributes a status to the noun that is preceded by a demonstrative and this status depends on how the addressee is associated in his or her choice of noun - or of adjective and noun. In a similar way, status is also at stake when it comes to choosing between a and the, some and any, too and also, to and –ing, nearly and almost etc. Such minimal pairs are more often than not not receiving adequate explanations in grammar books and students can be at a loss. When most linguists agree that languages are based « on finite means for infinite usage » status proves to be a very productive means indeed.