Abstract
Ivan Klajn
On the Defi nition of Demonstrative Pronouns in Serbocroatian Grammars and Dictionaries
The ternary system of Serbocroatian demonstrative pronouns, ovaj/taj/onaj, connected to the three grammatical persons, is comparable to Latin hic/iste/ille or to Spanish este/ese/aquel. The same three stem elements, -v-, -t-, -n-, are repeated in the pronouns ovakav/takav/onakav, ovoliki/ toliki/onoliki, as well as in several sets of adverbs (ovd(j)e/tu/ond(j)e, etc.) and in the presentatives evo/eto/eno. In most of the existing Serbocroatian grammars and dictionaries these demonstratives are not satisfactorily defi ned, their uses are only partially described, and their interrelationships are not taken into account. An outline for a more systematic description of the three pronouns is offered here, adaptable to both grammars and dictionaries. It is important to distinguish between three types of use, exophoric (relative to the space or the time of the communication), anaphoric (referring to parts of the preceding text) and cataphoric (referring to what follows). A special problem is the analysis of the neuter forms (ovo, to, ono), which have many special uses (as actualizers, connectors, pseudo-adverbs etc.), so that lexicographers are often uncertain whether to defi ne them as pronouns or as ‛particles’ (rečce).
