On similative demonstratives in Czech and English

Abstract

Abstract This paper is a contrastive corpus-based study of similative demonstratives, a major means of expressing similarity and ad-hoc categorization. It explores the divergence between the Czech demonstrative takový and its English dictionary equivalent such in their “atypical” – extended, or non-phoric – uses. Through the triangulation of comparable fiction texts, their translation (from a bidirectional translation corpus) and spoken language data (from comparable monolingual corpora of spoken English and Czech), converging evidence is found of the development of discourse functions of the Czech takový which shows an increase in its intersubjectivity, not attested with such, but common with the English type nouns sort, kind, and type. These cross-linguistic parallels are not only relevant for current discussions on intersubjectivity and intersubjectification, but they also call for further research on general patterns of ad-hoc categorization.