DEMONSTRATIVES IN SPATIAL DEICTIC FUNCTIONS IN KOORETE

This study examines the deictic functions of demonstratives in Koorete, an Omotic language classified under the East Ometo sub-group and spoken in the southwestern part of Ethiopia. The paper provides a thorough description and analysis of the various functions of demonstratives in the language, with a focus on their role as spatial deixis. In this regard, demonstrative determiners and demonstrative pronouns that carry strong locational meaning are analyzed with illustrative examples. The findings show that the language has six demonstrative adjectives and their corresponding pronouns. Their usage is determined by parameters such as distance from the deictic center, reference point, visibility, and vertical axis. In addition to their usage patterns, the morphological structure of deictic expressions is examined in detail. Moreover, the study explores the ongoing grammaticalization process by which demonstratives develop into markers of definiteness, tracing a path of change from the lexical to the grammatical and from the concrete to the abstract. Finally, the chapter also addresses two additional elements in some detail: deictic expressions of location and direction, as well as demonstrative presentatives.