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In:Thinking and Speaking About Time: A cognitive linguistic approach
Edited by Rita Brdar-Szabó and Mario Brdar
[Human Cognitive Processing 81] 2026
► pp. 442–468

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Chapter 17
The role of demonstrative determiners in temporal reference

 | University of Tartu
 | University of Tartu
 | University of Tartu
Published online: 27 January 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.81.17paj
Abstract
Demonstrative pronouns are frequently used in time expressions (e.g., these days, that time). While spatial use of demonstratives has been studied thoroughly, the use of demonstratives in temporal reference has gained little research attention. We investigate the role of Estonian demonstrative pronouns, more specifically determiners, in temporal reference (e.g., see/too päev ‘this/that day’). The results of our corpus study show that the demonstrative see ‘this’ has more varied functions in temporal reference than the demonstrative too ‘that’, which has specialised to refer to past events and occurs mainly in NPs that function as adverbials. Moreover, the semantics of temporal nouns seems to trigger the diverse referential practices of Estonian demNPs with each noun occurring in a slightly different referential, temporal, and morphosyntactic function.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Time and demonstratives in Estonian
  • 3.Data and analysis
  • 4.Results of the quantitative analysis
  • 5.Referential characteristics of temporal word groups
    • 5.1Aasta ‘year’, kuu ‘month’, nädal ‘week’, suvi ‘summer’
    • 5.2Aeg ‘time’, päev ‘day’, hetk ‘moment’, õhtu ‘evening’
    • 5.3Tund ‘hour’, minut ‘minute’
  • 6.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (45)
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