<div dir="ltr">Dear all,<br><br>There is a growing research on fillers, interjective hesitators and placeholders in languages of the world. Demonstratives (whether taken alone or as a part of the verb complex) are one of the sources to be used as placeholders in many languages partly to substitute for socially inappropriate items. <br><br>See, for instance, the following works, to list only a few.<br><br>Best regards, Nino<br><br><br>Amiridze, N., Davis, B. H., and Maclagan, M., editors (2010). Fillers, Pauses and Placeholders. (Typological Studies in Language 93). John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia.<br><br>Döhler, C. (2025). `That' placeholder in Komnzo. In Pakendorf, B. and Rose, F., editors, Fillers: Hesitatives and placeholders, pages 275–313. Language Science Press.<br><br>[Hayashi and Yoon, 2006] Hayashi, M. and Yoon, K. (2006). A cross-linguistic exploration of demonstratives in interaction: With particular reference to the context of word-formulation trouble. Studies in Language, 30:485–540.<br><br>Pakendorf, B. and Rose, F., editors (2025). Fillers: Hesitatives and placeholders. Number 5 in Research on Comparative Grammar. Language Science Press, Berlin.<br><br>Podlesskaya, V. I. (2010). Parameters for typological variation of placeholders. In Amiridze, N., Davis, B. H., and Maclagan, M., editors, Fillers, Pauses and Placeholders, volume 93 of Typological Studies in Language, pages 11–32. John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia.<br><br>Seraku, T., Park, M.-Y., and Sakaguchi, S. (2021). A grammatical description of the placeholder are in spontaneous Japanese. Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale, 50(1):65–93.</div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 12:04 PM Volker Gast via Lingtyp <<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I think it's pretty clear that demonstratives may convey emotive
meaning. I wonder to what extent that answers Adam's original
question though.</p>
<p>An additional element of those 'socially inappropriate' uses
could be taboo -- 'he/they did that (thing)', or just 'he/they
that-ed'.</p>
<p>@Adam: Would you have an example for us?</p>
<p>Best,<br>
Volker </p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div>On 3/27/26 05:06, Juergen Bohnemeyer
via Lingtyp wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Dear all — I suspect that some of the examples discussed in this
thread are primarily recognitional rather than inherently
negative. </div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Take Sebastian’s example, <i>Immer dieser Michel</i>. What
motivates recognitional deixis in this case is notoriety.
Notoriety in turn is commonly associated with negative
connotation. However, there are plenty of instances where
<i>dies</i> is used recognitionally with positive connotation.
To cite one example (begging all German speakers’
forgiveness preemptively for the groan factor) from a popular
goofy, shlocky 1970’s song:</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<i>Dieser Wuchs, diese Kraft </i></div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<i>weckt in mir die Leidenschaft</i></div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<i><br>
</i></div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
(May I please not translate this? Thank you!) </div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Now, this is not to say that there aren’t true examples of
social distancing conveyed by deixis. In fact, one might
hypothesize that the proximity/distance metaphor for (lack of)
familiarity/solidarity/shared in-group membership is itself a
universal. </div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
For instance, Hanks (2005: 206) notes that whenever a Yucatec
adult scolds a child, they will use distal deixis, even if the
addressee is spatially close enough to the speaker to warrant
proximal use. Since this is exophoric reference, a recognitional
analysis is out of the question.</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Best — Juergen</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Hanks, W. (2005). Explorations in the deictic field. <i>Current
Anthropology </i>
46(2): 191-220.</div>
<div style="direction:ltr;font-family:"CMU Serif",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<div id="m_-4882124858001966433ms-outlook-mobile-signature">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:9pt;color:black">Juergen
Bohnemeyer (He/Him)<br>
Professor, Department of Linguistics<br>
University at Buffalo <br>
<br>
Office: 642 Baldy Hall, UB North Campus<br>
Mailing address: 609 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260 <br>
Phone: (716) 645 0127 <br>
Fax: (716) 645 3825<br>
Email: </span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:9pt;color:rgb(0,120,212)"><a href="mailto:jb77@buffalo.edu" title="mailto:jb77@buffalo.edu" style="color:rgb(0,120,212);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" target="_blank">jb77@buffalo.edu</a></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:9pt;color:black"><br>
Web: </span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:9pt"><a href="http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/" title="http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" target="_blank">http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/</a></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:9pt;color:black"> <br>
<br>
</span><span style="color:black">Office hours Tu/Th
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2411; Passcode Hoorheh) </span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:9pt;color:black"><br>
<br>
There’s A Crack In Everything - That’s How The Light Gets
In <br>
(Leonard Cohen) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">-- </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div id="m_-4882124858001966433mail-editor-reference-message-container">
<div>
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<div style="text-align:left;padding:3pt 0in 0in;border-width:1pt medium medium;border-style:solid none none;border-color:rgb(181,196,223) currentcolor currentcolor;font-family:Aptos;font-size:12pt;color:black">
<b>From: </b>Lingtyp
<a href="mailto:lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org></a> on behalf of
Annemarie Verkerk via Lingtyp
<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org></a><br>
<b>Date: </b>Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 14:15<br>
<b>To: </b><a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>
<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org></a><br>
<b>Subject: </b>Re: [Lingtyp] [EXTERN] Lingtyp Digest, Vol
138, Issue 11<br>
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:11pt">Thanks Adam for
raising the question and Sebastian for writing about<br>
German.<br>
Dutch is like German but it seems, at least in the speech of
some, to go<br>
further. I have been puzzled by this for years, that is, the
use of<br>
'die' in front of human proper nouns, to signal either social
distance<br>
(almost something like kin/non-kin) and/or a 'very slight
disapproval'<br>
of the person mentioned.<br>
<br>
I don't have further answers though!<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Annemarie<br>
<br>
On 2026/03/26 13:00, <a href="mailto:lingtyp-request@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lingtyp-request@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>
wrote:<br>
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> Today's Topics:<br>
><br>
> 1. Demonstratives to mean deviation from social norm<br>
> (Adam James Ross Tallman)<br>
> 2. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (Arnold Zwicky)<br>
> 3. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (Adam James Ross Tallman)<br>
> 4. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (Sebastian Nordhoff)<br>
> 5. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (Christoph Holz)<br>
> 6. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (PONSONNET Maia)<br>
> 7. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (Pier Marco Bertinetto)<br>
> 8. Re: Demonstratives to mean deviation from social
norm<br>
> (Alex Francois)<br>
><br>
><br>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
><br>
> Message: 1<br>
> Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:31:48 +0100<br>
> From: Adam James Ross Tallman
<a href="mailto:ajrtallman@utexas.edu" target="_blank"><ajrtallman@utexas.edu></a><br>
> To: <a href="mailto:LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG" target="_blank">"LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"</a><br>
> <a href="mailto:LINGTYP@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><LINGTYP@listserv.linguistlist.org></a><br>
> Subject: [Lingtyp] Demonstratives to mean deviation from
social norm<br>
> Message-ID:<br>
>
<a href="mailto:CAK0T6OihWPgP8BWUYbb745wD0QAn6XKHgkTrXGijfAdBADummg@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank"><CAK0T6OihWPgP8BWUYbb745wD0QAn6XKHgkTrXGijfAdBADummg@mail.gmail.com></a><br>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br>
><br>
> Hi all,<br>
><br>
> In Chacobo there seems to be a demonstrative that means
"do something) that<br>
> deviates from socially normal expectations". This is a
pretty preliminary<br>
> description, so I'm open to other ideas and
reconceptualizations. I call it<br>
> 'more distal', as an adnominal marker, it doesn't tend to
have this meaning.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> adnominal<br>
><br>
> adverbial<br>
><br>
> verb<br>
><br>
> proximate<br>
><br>
> *naa*<br>
><br>
> *n?a*<br>
><br>
> *n?ka*<br>
><br>
> distal<br>
><br>
> *toa*<br>
><br>
> *toa*<br>
><br>
> *toka*<br>
><br>
> more distal<br>
><br>
> *oa*<br>
><br>
> *oa~oka*<br>
><br>
> *oka*<br>
><br>
> At base the morpheme seems to mean "out of vision", but
not always.<br>
><br>
> I was wondering whether anyone had written about
something similar in<br>
> another language? Let me know.<br>
><br>
> best,<br>
><br>
> Adam<br>
> --<br>
> Adam J.R. Tallman<br>
> CNRS, Sedyl<br>
> -------------- next part --------------<br>
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><br>
> ------------------------------<br>
><br>
> Message: 2<br>
> Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2026 07:54:11 -0700<br>
> From: Arnold Zwicky <a href="mailto:arnold.zwicky@gmail.com" target="_blank"><arnold.zwicky@gmail.com></a><br>
> To: Adam James Ross Tallman <a href="mailto:ajrtallman@utexas.edu" target="_blank"><ajrtallman@utexas.edu></a><br>
> Cc: Linguistic Typology
<a href="mailto:LINGTYP@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><LINGTYP@listserv.linguistlist.org></a><br>
> Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Demonstratives to mean deviation
from social<br>
> norm<br>
> Message-ID:
<a href="mailto:733BC761-0BA2-4D63-8822-0DFCC3B4F13B@gmail.com" target="_blank"><733BC761-0BA2-4D63-8822-0DFCC3B4F13B@gmail.com></a><br>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
>> On Mar 25, 2026, at 7:31 AM, Adam James Ross Tallman
via Lingtyp <a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org></a> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> Hi all,<br>
>><br>
>> In Chacobo there seems to be a demonstrative that
means "do something) that deviates from socially normal
expectations". This is a pretty preliminary description, so
I'm open to other ideas and reconceptualizations. I call it
'more distal', as an adnominal marker, it doesn't tend to have
this meaning.<br>
> ..<br>
>> I was wondering whether anyone had written about
something similar in another language? Let me know.<br>
> his isn't very helpful, but I have a recolletion of
remote distal demonstratives being cited in several languages,
though I can't now find atual citations. (I suffer from having
lost all my files and also library access, so I have only my
very aged and imperfect memory.)<br>
><br>
> Arnold<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> ------------------------------<br>
><br>
> Message: 3<br>
> Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:13:40 +0100<br>
> From: Adam James Ross Tallman
<a href="mailto:ajrtallman@utexas.edu" target="_blank"><ajrtallman@utexas.edu></a><br>
> To: <a href="mailto:LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG" target="_blank">"LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"</a><br>
> <a href="mailto:LINGTYP@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><LINGTYP@listserv.linguistlist.org></a><br>
> Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Demonstratives to mean deviation
from social<br>
> norm<br>
> Message-ID:<br>
>
<a href="mailto:CAK0T6OheH-EqwExzuzmL1L+5s+95zp6aLrGbzWdV_7TTLEya=Q@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank"><CAK0T6OheH-EqwExzuzmL1L+5s+95zp6aLrGbzWdV_7TTLEya=Q@mail.gmail.com></a><br>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br>
><br>
> Sorry just to clarify ... I meant not just cases of "out
of vision"<br>
> demonstratives, but cases where demonstratives mean
something about social<br>
> inappropriateness or dissonance.<br>
><br>
> A.<br>
><br>
> On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 3:31?PM Adam James Ross Tallman
<<br>
> <a href="mailto:ajrtallman@utexas.edu" target="_blank">ajrtallman@utexas.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
>> Hi all,<br>
>><br>
>> In Chacobo there seems to be a demonstrative that
means "do something)<br>
>> that deviates from socially normal expectations".
This is a pretty<br>
>> preliminary description, so I'm open to other ideas
and<br>
>> reconceptualizations. I call it 'more distal', as an
adnominal marker, it<br>
>> doesn't tend to have this meaning.<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> adnominal<br>
>><br>
>> adverbial<br>
>><br>
>> verb<br>
>><br>
>> proximate<br>
>><br>
>> *naa*<br>
>><br>
>> *n?a*<br>
>><br>
>> *n?ka*<br>
>><br>
>> distal<br>
>><br>
>> *toa*<br>
>><br>
>> *toa*<br>
>><br>
>> *toka*<br>
>><br>
>> more distal<br>
>><br>
>> *oa*<br>
>><br>
>> *oa~oka*<br>
>><br>
>> *oka*<br>
>><br>
>> At base the morpheme seems to mean "out of vision",
but not always.<br>
>><br>
>> I was wondering whether anyone had written about
something similar in<br>
>> another language? Let me know.<br>
>><br>
>> best,<br>
>><br>
>> Adam<br>
>> --<br>
>> Adam J.R. Tallman<br>
>> CNRS, Sedyl<br>
>><br>
>><br>
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</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">Dr. Nino Amiridze<br><br>E-mail: <a href="mailto:Nino.Amiridze@gmail.com" target="_blank">Nino.Amiridze@gmail.com</a><br>WWW: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/ninoamiridze/" target="_blank">https://sites.google.com/site/ninoamiridze/</a></div>