demonstrative (adj./n.) (dem, DEM)

A term used in GRAMMAR and SEMANTICS to refer to a class of items whose function is to point to an entity in the SITUATION or elsewhere in a SENTENCE. The items this and that, for example, have their REFERENCE fixed by gestures, speaker knowledge, or other means. Depending on their grammatical role, they are called ‘demonstrative DETERMINERS’ (That book is interesting) or ‘demonstrative PRONOUNS’ (That is interesting), but some grammars refer to items with determiner function as ‘demonstrative ADJECTIVES’. Demonstratives fall within the general class of DEICTIC expressions, and are sometimes contrasted with ‘pure INDEXICALS’.