ABSTRACT
M o d e r n Ca ta l an has a b inary system o f demonstratives wi th a basis somewhat different f rom that found i n modern Eng l i sh (where 'this'/ 'these' indicates closeness to the speaker and 'that'/ ' those' indicates remoteness). It is convenient to see this in relation to the three 'persons' o f verbal conjugation. The standard language differentiates between aquest, referring to something close, in time or space, to the speaker (first person) and to the person addressed (second person). Aquell, resembling o ld Engl i sh 'yonder ' , refers to something remote f rom bo th speaker and hearer/reader. Thus, in the sentence No m'agrada aquest abric 'T don ' t l ike this/that overcoat', the demonstrative aquest cou ld indicate the overcoat worn by either the speaker or the hearer. (Where context d i d not make the meaning clear, clarif ication w o u l d be suppl ied by gesture or by supplementary comment like que portes avui 'that you are wearing today' .) The point to be observed is that aquest translates ' this ' and also ' that ' where the latter refers to something close to a second person. Aquell, o n the other hand, conveys the idea of 'that' when remoteness f rom the speaker and hearer/reader is involved, either in space (aquell abric que porta en Xavier 'that overcoat wh ich X a v i e r is wearing') o r in time (aquell abric que portava (jo)/portaves (tu) l'altre dia 'that overcoat wh ich I was/you were wear ing the other day') . Deta i led discussion is given at 6.3.
