37.3300, Confs: Demonstratives and Definites in Discourse (Italy)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3300. Wed Oct 14 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3300, Confs: Demonstratives and Definites in Discourse (Italy)

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Date: 11-Oct-2026
From: Chiara Gianollo [chiara.gianollo at unibo.it]
Subject: Demonstratives and Definites in Discourse


Demonstratives and Definites in Discourse
Short Title: RED 2027
Theme: Part of the series RED – Referential Expressions in Discourse

Date: 27-May-2027 - 28-May-2027
Location: Bologna, Italy
Contact: Chiara Gianollo
Contact Email: chiara.gianollo at unibo.it
Meeting URL: https://eventi.unibo.it/red2027

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis; Pragmatics; Semantics; Syntax

Submission Deadline: 15-Dec-2026

The two-day workshop “Demonstratives and definites in discourse” will
take place on May 27-28, 2027 at the University of Bologna and is
jointly organized by Chiara Gianollo (University of Bologna) and Klaus
von Heusinger (University of Cologne). The workshop is part of the
series RED – Referential Expressions in Discourse
(https://red.uni-koeln.de), which has taken place on a fairly regular
basis since 2010.
The invited speakers are:
Giuliana Giusti (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice)
Radek Šimík (Charles University, Prague)
Elisabeth Stark (University of Zurich) & Daniel Hole (University of
Stuttgart)
In this workshop we intend to investigate the role of different types
of demonstratives and definites in the dynamic development of
discourse, by means of theoretical modelling, synchronic and
diachronic corpus studies, and experimental evidence. We are also
interested in the dimensions of cross-linguistic variation connected
to these classes of referential expressions, in particular with
respect to uses for which comparative evidence is still scarce or
unsystematic, like indefinite demonstrative uses and weak definite
ones.
Demonstratives and definites show various differences in their
referential properties, when considered in individual utterances.
Demonstratives are directly referential, scope-neutral, convey a
non-uniqueness condition and locational information. Definites
identify their referents by means of their descriptive material, show
scope interactions, convey a uniqueness condition, but no locational
information. Yet, in their anaphoric discourse function,
demonstratives and definites are nearly interchangeable. However, they
have many more functions in discourse that bring out more differences
between them. For instance, demonstratives shift the thematic
attention to a new referent, while definites rather continue a given
topic or theme. Both types of expressions also allow for
first-mentioned referents, but in a very different way. Indefinite
demonstratives introduce new (noteworthy) referents, while definites
identify new referents in bridging contexts or in so-called weak
definite contexts.
In their most typical discourse use, demonstratives and definites
anaphorically pick up previously introduced discourse referents. For
definites, this contextually satisfies the condition of familiarity
and uniqueness imposed by their meaning. For demonstratives, the
anaphoric use can be seen as a transposition of their core deictic
function into the text (and, in fact, diachronically, anaphoric uses
of demonstratives are a typical reanalysis context in their
grammaticalization into definite articles). However, demonstratives
and definites impose different constraints on their antecedents, so
that they are not fully interchangeable (e.g. Kim has a cat. The /
this cat is cute but Kim has a cat and a dog. The / #This cat is
cute).
The behaviour of demonstratives and definites in discourse is a
theoretically significant object of investigation not only in terms of
their anaphoric properties, but also considering their ability to
introduce new discourse referents. Typically, the introduction of
hearer-new material in discourse is performed by means of various
types of indefinite nominal phrases. However, first-mention uses are
broadly attested for both demonstratives and definites in many
languages.
Some first-mention uses of definites can be reconciled with an
extended notion of familiarity and the uniqueness condition, as in
bridging, where a new referent is introduced into the context by a
linking relation to an anchor. These contexts do not allow
demonstratives, and are often taken as a test to distinguish between
definites and demonstratives (Kim has a car. The / #This engine is
loud). Another group of definites, weak definites (Kim is reading the
newspaper) have first-mention uses that are instead challenging with
respect to both uniqueness and familiarity (Poesio 1994, Carlson et
al. 2006, Aguilar-Guevara & Zwarts 2010, a.o.). Besides not having a
referential anchor in context, they have been argued not to build
suitable discourse referents for subsequent anaphoric pickup in
discourse, and to be therefore discourse-deficient (Aguilar-Guevara &
Oggiani 2023). However, their status with respect to anaphoric
relations is not settled, as in some languages they actually can
represent the anchor of an anaphoric relation (Modarresi & Krifka
2021, 2025). There seem to be different varieties of weak definites,
within and across languages. Weak definites also call for a comparison
with bare singulars in languages that otherwise display an extensive
use of articles (Espinal & McNally 2011, de Swart 2015, Gerards &
Stark 2022). This, in turn, invites the question of how definite
readings are achieved in languages without articles (Dayal 2018, Jenks
2018, Šimík & Demian 2020). Furthermore, the relation between weak
definites, genericity and non-definite interpretations of the definite
article, observed throughout Romance (Cardinaletti & Giusti 2018,
2020, Giusti 2025, Morosi 2025), remains puzzling and has been the
object of much debate recently.
As for demonstratives, their use for the introduction of discourse-new
entities can be considered to be very much in line with their function
of attention-raising or shifting, but something additional must be
said once referent introduction does not take place in a visible
situation. Indefinite uses (I was sitting on a bench in the park when
this woman approached me) have been observed for various languages
(Prince 1981, Wright & Givón 1987, Himmelmann 1996, Gary-Prieur &
Léonard 1998, Diessel 1999: 109, 138-139, Ionin 2006, von Heusinger
2011, 2012, von Heusinger and Gianollo 2019). There are good reasons
to distinguish them from so-called recognitional uses (In the novel we
read last month there is this passage in which the protagonist…),
which capitalize on knowledge shared by speaker and hearer, since
indefinite demonstratives introduce hearer-new material, for which the
hearer is invited to build a new discourse representation.
An interesting comparison concerns the discourse-structuring potential
of demonstratives and definites in their anaphoric uses, but also in
their function of weak definites or indefinite demonstratives. As
mentioned above, due to their interpretational properties, weak
definites are not expected to build persistent discourse referents
(although it has been observed that in some cases they are the
antecedents of anaphoric expressions). Conversely, indefinite
demonstratives have been proven to represent a strategy to signal the
prominence of the introduced referent in the subsequent discourse.
Given this (non-exhaustive) background, we welcome contributions with
a strong theoretical focus addressing, but not limited to, the
following topics:
 - the functions of demonstratives and definites in discourse in
contrast to their non-discourse functions
 - the behaviour of anaphoric demonstratives and definites in
discourse, with special attention to discourse-structuring potential
(topic shift, foregrounding)
 - the behaviour of non-anaphoric demonstratives and definites in
discourse, with special attention to their use in first mentions and
to their (forward-looking) discourse-structuring potential
 - experimental evidence concerning properties of definites,
demonstratives, and the relation between presence and absence of
articles in definite interpretations
 - definite interpretations in languages without articles
 - non-definite interpretations of definite articles and
demonstratives
 - diachronic developments affecting demonstratives and definites
Abstracts:
We invite theoretical and empirical contributions for 30-minute
presentations, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. Abstracts should
be anonymous, written in English, and not longer than two pages
(including examples and references), formatted as PDF in Times New
Roman 12 pt, single-spaced, with margins of 1 inch/2.5cm. Please
submit your abstract by e-mail to: red2027 at live.unibo.it no later than
December 15, 2026.
Important Dates:
Call for papers: October 11, 2026
Abstract submission deadline: December 15, 2026
Notification of decision: by January 25, 2027
Conference dates: May 27-28, 2027



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