Old Latin demonstratives as markers of attitudes and engagement

Intersubjectivity – the ability to consider others’ minds – and engagement – the grammaticalized expression of intersubjective monitoring activities – have long been marginalized in the description of IE languages despite their crucial role in human interaction. Demonstratives, anchored as they are in conversation, have rarely been analyzed considering these concepts. This paper addresses these issues by analyzing contexts in which Old Latin demonstratives express the interlocutors’ attitudes and/or engagement. Three Plautus’ comedies were selected and annotated for this purpose. Quantitative data confirmed typological observations noting a link between demonstratives and pejorative contexts, especially with human reference. Qualitative analysis showed that the opposition between hic/iste vs. ille in the spatial domain may be dismissed in the emotional domain, a fact which requires an explanation involving the hearer’s role and the interlocutors’ personal sphere