Ossetic, an Iranian language of the North Caucasus, makes extensive use of correlatives in its system of subordination. I argue that most subordinate clause types in Ossetic belong to this construction, with their function being derived from the combination of the meaning of the subordinating element and the form of the demonstrative correlate. I further argue that the link between the relative phrase and the correlate may involve indirect relations such as bridging and split antecedence. They must therefore be viewed as obligatory pronominal coreference, where correlates are semantically no different from ordinary anaphoric pronouns or definite descriptions.