This paper attempts at an integrated approach to the various semantic properties of English demon- stratives this and that. According to previous scholars, a demonstrative has very diverse functions-spatial and temporal relations with the speaker, discourse deixis, the speaker s psychological and emotional expressions. This study reviews two representative approaches in order to see whether there are unified principles that can account for all those cases. First, the seman- tic/pragmatic approach tries to find the meanings of the demonstratives this and that from their basic semantic features, proximal/distal from the speaker, and second, the cognitive approach accounts for their meanings in consideration of the possibility of the hearer s cognitive processing. This paper discusses the merits and limitations of those two approaches, and proposes the following approach as an alternative: the proximal/distal demonstratives this and that are related with the speaker s and hearer s projection of focus onto the referent.
1. Introduction
2. Numerous Usages of the Demonstratives This and That
3. A Semantic/Pragmatic Approach
4. A Cognitive Approach
5. An Integrated Approach
6. Conclusion