Text Production Features of Demonstrative Pronouns in Modern English

Abstract

This study investigates the text-forming features of demonstrative pronouns in modern English by examining their semantic, syntactic, and discourse-pragmatic functions. While the classification of pronouns as an independent part of speech remains debated, the analysis demonstrates that demonstratives—this, that, these, those, such, and the same—play a central role in structuring textual meaning. Through a detailed examination of temporal, spatial, discourse, anaphoric, and cataphoric deixis, the study reveals that demonstrative pronouns contribute significantly to cohesion and coherence by reducing lexical repetition, organizing thematic continuity, and guiding reader interpretation. A key contribution of this research is the systematic differentiation between situational (direct) and contextual (in-text) demonstrative models, which clarifies how reference shifts between physical contexts and discourse environments. Additionally, the study highlights the replacement and compression functions of demonstratives, showing how they summarize or substitute complex textual units to enhance readability and information flow. The findings offer important theoretical and practical insights for text linguistics, discourse analysis, stylistics, translation studies, and language pedagogy, demonstrating that demonstrative pronouns are essential components of the text creation mechanism in modern English.