The role of pragmatics in the cyclical renewal and reinforcement of demonstratives from Latin to Italian

This chapter explores the development of demonstratives from Latin to Italian in terms of an onomasiological pragmatic cycle, a cyclical renewal whereby the same function came to be expressed over time by different forms whose original source is similar, functionally competing for a while and gradually replacing one another. In addition to exploring the nature of this cyclical change, we consider the role of pragmatic motivations in triggering and constraining its historical development, also including the interaction of pragmatic factors with different patterns of language change such as reinforcement and subjectification. We then focus on a recent development in contemporary Italian, viz. the emergence of reinforced demonstratives, in relation to the framework of cycles. We argue that these complex forms specialized pragmatically as expressions of the speaker’s stance, expanding from their original core meaning of spatial deixis to the discursive subjective sphere, where in some contexts they can express deliberate distancing from negatively evaluated referents.