<Article> Types of Distance Contrast Expressed by Demonstrative Pronouns in the Sichuan Dialect of the Chinese language : the 3-Way Contrast in Spatial Deixis

In this paper， the following points regarding demonstrative pronoun usage in the Monsoon－Asia region（hereafter referred to as MA region）will be considered． In particular， those points of the 3－way contrast system of demonstrative pronouns expressing distance contrasts present in the MA region that are of interest to geographical linguistics will be examined． First of all， the main points of the existing investigations into the Sichuan dialect will be pointed out． The data relating to this new study， focussing on the 3－way contrast system in the Sichuan dialect， will then be presented and discussed． It will be argued that there in fact appears to be two similar 3－way contrast systems［＊tse－ne－na］ operative in the Sichuan dialect． These systems are： Type A：［Close…Far－一一“Farther”（i． e． out of view）］ Type B：［Close－一一“Opposite”（i． e． next to the listener）一一一Far］ This paper will then look at the currentiy most prominent theory on Chinese demonstrative pronouns， i． e． that“through the meeting of two differing 2－way contrast systems， a new 3－way system began to form”（張維佳Zhang Wei－jia，2005）。 A number of novel suggestions will then be put forward。 Finally， points for further study will be proposed