83 Once the mother and son have been introduced with in this way, they function as local
VIPs in the next section of the narrative, and are not marked by any demonstrative. The effect of xil here is to mark them as salient, since they will be major participants in the
next section.
4.4.2 The distal demonstrative yul
While use of the proximal demonstrative xil constrains an interpretation that its referent is near the current center of attention, its counterpart, the distal demonstrative, is
used in conjunction with referents who are outside the current center of attention. Following the analogy of a spotlight, if xil is a message that the spotlight is on the
referent, yul indicates that the referent is somewhere away from the spotlight, and that the spotlight should not be turned to it.
4.4.2.1 Comparison of xil and yul with newly introduced participants
Although, as noted above, xil is found with newly introduced participants, yul is also found in this position. The difference between the two is that xil indicates that the
referent is salient enough to warrant status as a local VIP. This difference is illustrated in the story “Searching for God”:
82 ‘So one day the two of them met an old woman. That old grandmother asked, “Son, where are you two going?” The two of them
answered her, “Old woman, we are searching for god.”’
‘That old grandmother said, “My grandchildren, if you search to
the ends of the earth you will not find god. God lives in your family home.” The two of them returned to their home and looked around. They
did not see any god there. They went again to find god outside the home.’
‘One day they met an old man. That old man also told them that
God lived in their family home. The two of them went back home and looked all around, but they still found no god there. The two of them very
patiently went back outside to search for god.’
‘The two of them just would not quit looking for god. One day as
they did this they met a man their own age. This man also told them that
84 god lived in their family home. The two of them said, “Oh goodness
brother, how can this possibly be? Prior to this we met an old woman and an old man, and when we asked them they said that god lived in our home,
but when we looked there we did not find god anywhere.”’
‘This man their own age said, “Oh my friends, god is not someone
else. God is none other than the old, whitehaired people who live in our homes...’
English translation from Lewis and Bai 2000:70-71, with demonstratives added to reflect the original, in V:169-170
In this story, the main characters are the two people who are searching for god. When
new referents are brought into the narrative, they are first introduced with an indefinite NP, and are referred to with demonstratives in further references. The first two people
whom they ask are introduced with yul and do not play a role in solving the central conflict of the story. The last person they ask is introduced with xil and gives the
information which holds the key to solving their problem. The author uses a change between the distal and proximal demonstratives to mark the third referent as salient.
4.4.2.2 The use of yul with participants who are not local VIPs
