Space, contrast and joint attention: Demonstrative adverbs in Russian, Estonian and Finnish

This comparative study explores discourse functions of demonstrative adverbs in three areally close languages, which employ different demonstrative systems: Russian and Estonian (different two-term systems) and Finnish (an elaborate three-term system). We examine the use of demonstrative adverbs in a spatially contrastive setting using experimentally elicited data. We test whether the three chosen languages differ in terms of functions that demonstrative adverbs fulfil and whether the number of spatial distinctions within the demonstrative system affects the use and function of demonstrative adverbs in discourse reference. In all three languages, when referring to an object that can be conceptualised as a location, such as a building, the demonstrative adverbs are used in the following functions: i) identifying a referent, ii) tracking a referent, iii) conveying the information status of the referent. However, there are differences in how these languages use demonstrative adverbs to convey those functions. In the Russian and Finnish data, demonstrative adverbs are used mostly for tracking already activated referents, while in the Estonian data, demonstrative adverbs are a frequently used device for both identifying and tracking referents. In Finnish and Estonian, demonstrative adverbs can co-occur with demonstrative pronouns. These compound forms are used to indicate that the process of identifying the referent is unfinished. In all three languages, demonstrative adverbs are used both exophorically and anaphorically