Discourse functions of 'visible' and 'nonvisible' demonstratives in Tiang (New Ireland) and in a cross-linguistic perspective

The present chapter examines the use of demonstratives in discourse as a referent-tracking and clause-linking device. The crucial question is how the visibility value of a demonstrative influences its discourse functions. The investigation starts with an evaluation of the demonstrative system of Tiang, an Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea. Tiang has a set of six demonstrative forms, which indicate distance and visibility of referents in an exophoric setting. In their endophoric function, the different forms correlate with different discourse functions. The following tendencies are observed in Tiang: ‘Visible’ demonstratives tend to be exophoric, and ‘nonvisible’ forms tend to be endophoric. The ‘nonvisible’ forms are the preferred choice for anaphors, while cataphors tend to be expressed by ‘visible’ demonstratives. A sample of 22 languages was examined for the use of demonstratives and most were found to follow the same tendencies as described for Tiang.