On the Affective Uses of Anaphoric Demonstratives in Chinese and Japanese

Abstract

In English, this/that modifying a proper name are typically evaluative or emotional, which is not acceptable in a factual statement. Such use is called affective use. The affective use is also observed in Chinese and Japanese anaphoric demonstratives. In both languages, the proximal demonstratives can be used affectively in dialogues; the demonstratives can occur with a noun phrase to create an exclamatory sentence, which conveys an emotional tone. Furthermore, in Chinese, (i)the distal demonstratives used in cataphora; and (ii)the demonstrative used in an apposition when referring to a single person are also affective.