Pronominal demonstratives replace the noun, and adnominal demonstratives attach to the noun. In some languages, there is no distinction between these two types of demonstratives, while other languages distinguish the two by their roots or syntactic behavior.[1] Pronominal demonstratives are almost always free morphemes, while adnominal demonstratives may be either clitics or independent words. Some languages employ a third category, identificational demonstratives, which can be used only with copular and non-verbal predicates.

Types:

NoDem: The language does not have demonstratives.[2]

AdnDem=PronDem: Adnominal and pronominal demonstratives do not differ in their stems, inflection, or syntactic argument structure.

AdnDemNotPronDem: Adnominal demonstratives differ from pronominal demonstratives in (at least) their stems.[3]

AdnDem=DeclPronDem: Adnominal and pronominal demonstratives have identical stems, but they differ in their inflection (for example, the existence or type of agreement).

AdnDem=SyntPronDem: Adnominal and pronominal demonstratives have identical stems and inflection, but adnominal demonstratives require an argument (for example, a definite article).

+IdentDem: A third type of demonstrative exists for use with non-verbal predicates.[4] (If this value is applicable, it should appear in combination with another value from this list.)

[1] For example, pronominal demonstratives may show case and number inflection, while adnominal demonstratives do not show agreement with the noun. Furthermore, adnominal demonstratives can differ from pronominal demonstratives in their syntactic argument structure as well (such as the requirement of an article when they appear with a noun).

[2] The alternative strategy used to fulfill the function of demonstratives should be specified in the commentary.

[3] If the adnominal demonstrative is a bound morpheme, this should be noted in the commentary.

[4] This third type may share its stem with pronominal demonstratives but display different inflection, or it may have an entirely different stem. Such information should be included in the commentary.