In the sentence, "This is a flower." How can we both say that the "a" refers to a general noun (flower), yet also account for the presence of the specific determiner, "this?"
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1The specification here is with respect to the specimen under the speaker's scrutiny and its location, not to its possible inherent distinctiveness. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 27 '14 at 23:36
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In this sentence this is not 'attached' to flower and does not act as its determiner. It is a demonstrative pronoun acting as the subject of the sentence. The sentence may be paraphrased
This thing here is a flower. unless you are from Alabama, where we say
This-here thing is a flower.
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If I could, +10 for the SAE version. It's much more natural sounding. – user0721090601 Aug 28 '14 at 00:41