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From: dacosta@prl.philips.nl (Paulo da Costa)
Subject: Re: Are 'spatial relations' Universals?
Message-ID: <dacosta.805365062@causus>
Originator: dacosta@causus
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Organization: Philips Research Laboratories Eindhoven, Netherlands
References: <3tebps$hfj@azure.acsu.buffalo.edu> <3tep4r$jlv@clarknet.clark.net> <3tqfe8$5i7@panix2.panix.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 1995 08:31:02 GMT
Lines: 21

In <3tqfe8$5i7@panix2.panix.com> mambo@panix.com (dave lewis) writes:

>Here's a possible variation:  I once worked with a Portuguese speaker.
>On one occasion, he wanted me to bring him a tool whose name he couldn't
>remember.  We spent a few minutes doing a comedy routine where I would
>pass my hand over various tools and he would say "No ... No ... No ...
>Yes, _this_ one", at which point I would stop what I was doing and start
>to approach him.  I finally figured out that for me, "this" is always
>near "me", but for him, "this" seemed to be defined in terms of a
>pragmatic pointing context (this needs verification - his English was
>limited and I could be misinterpreting).  

That's the three-way distinction "este/esse/aquele". "Este" is the one
near me, "esse" is the one near you, and "aquele" is that one over there.
I'm a Portuguese speaker, and I would also use "this" for the first two
in English (now I realise it would be a mistake, too).
-- 
Paulo M. C(astello) da Costa,  /\/\/\  Minha terra tem palmeiras  /\/\/\
Philips Research Laboratories, \/\/\/  Onde canta o sabia'...     \/\/\/
Building WAY5 093, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven, The Netherlands
E-mail: dacosta@prl.philips.nl  Phone: +31 40 742147  FAX: +31 40 744657
