Demonstratives 189
(34) Laggu' Hanina entar-a ka Jakarta.
tomorrow Hanina go-IRR to Jakarta
‘Tomorrow I am going to Jakarta.’
3.1 Distribution of pronouns
Context plays a role not only in interpreting pronouns, but also in the distribu-
tion of pronouns. Pronouns in prepositional phrases and coordinate structures
are obligatory, but subject, object, non-prepositional agent, and possessive pro-
nouns are optional. In fact, as is the case in many languages that allow them,
null pronouns are generally preferred when sanctioned. Thus, the sentences in
(35-37), all taken from narratives, have the interpretations ascribed to them in
the context of that narrative. (In the examples, pro occurs in the canonical posi-
tion of a pronoun or NP.)
(35) Dhang-kadhang pro 1 e-sambi pro 2 keya dha’ pro 1 e-bagi pro 2 dha’
sometimes OV-bring too to OV-give to
Ke Moko keya.
Ke Moko too
‘Sometimes they would bring these to give to Ke Moko, too.’
(36) Bid-abid-da pate gella’ dhateng nga-tela' pro.
RED-long-DEF minister before come AV.KA-see
‘After a while the minister came and saw him.’
(37) Mole dha' disa-na pro!
go.home to village-DEF
‘Go home to your villages!’
In (35), null pronouns take the place of subjects pro 1 and post-verbal agents
pro 2. In (36), the direct object of ngatela ‘see’ is a null pronoun. And in (37),
the null pronoun fills the position of the possessor. Pronominal anaphora as well
as reflexives and reciprocals are treated in detail in Chapter 13.
4. Demonstratives
Demonstratives are deictic elements that identify the location of a particular
entity or entities with respect to a particular discourse context. There is a two-
way distinction for demonstratives: a proximal demonstrative used with items
that are near the speaker and a distal demonstrative used with items that are far
from the speaker and may be far from the addressee.