Osservazioni su un uso idiomatico dei dimostrativi זֹאת, זֶה e אֵלֶּה in ebraico biblico

The present paper focuses on a repertoire of about forty examples taken from Biblical Hebrew in which the proximal demonstratives אֵלֶּה, זאֹת, זֶה exhibit a remarkable idiomatic usage. In these constructions two or more forms of these demonstratives co-occur in the same context to express a discursive contrast between different referents, implying a this/that, here/there, in this way/in this other way-type relation. In this particular use the proximal meaning of these forms turns out to be neutralized in context, while a relational function seems to prevail. In some respects, this fact brings demonstratives closer to those markers that are specialized for encoding the notion of mutual relation, as reciprocals.