Re: introduction...

<<IRRC Maori or Samoan has demonstratives that indicate spatial deiurisis
(spelling?), i.e. close to hearer, close to speaker, not close to either
speaker or hearer.
    Or am I confusing things up (as I am apt to)? ;)>>

     I don't know what the original thread was, but Spanish has this too, and 
it's still in use.  The most interesting set of deictics I've ever heard 
about I told the list about last year.  I can't remember exactly, but words 
were literally constructed in the following fashion:

1st sound:
h-: The object described is close to the speaker
s-: The object described is a little bit farther from the speaker
a-: The object described is really far from the speaker

2nd sound:
-u-: The object described is in the speaker's line of sight
-i-: The object described is out of the speaker's line of sight

3rd:
-h: The object described is on the bottom of the hill
-n: The object described is in the middle of the hill
-s: The object described is on top of the hill

     Apparently the speakers lived in a valley somewhere in South America.  
So, to make up a noun (let's say their word for "beaver" is /kampi/):

1.) huh kampi: That "near-to-me-in-my-line-of-sight-on-the-bottom-of-the-hill"
                         beaver
2.) sin kampi: That 
"not-so-far-from-me-out-of-my-line-of-sight-in-the-middle-of-
                         the-hill" beaver (in this situation, let's say the 
beaver is a little
                         distance away from the speaker but behind him/her)
3.) aus kampi: That "far-from-me-in-my-line-of-sight-on-top-of-the-hill" 
beaver
                         (so the speaker is, say, looking at the beaver from 
the bottom
                         of the hill staring up at the beaver on the top)

     It's a natural language, so it surprised me how Esperante it was.  Neat, 
nonetheless.  :)

-David