Deixis - pragmatics

Deixis

Expressions that point out of the language to something in the context

Ego-hic-nuc

I-here-now

Gestural deixis

Not used often but used in contexts that wouldn’t make sense without them.

Point, chin nod, gaze, intonation

Symbolic deixis

Cannot be concretely gestured to, abstract notions.

Indexicality

Broader phenomenon of context-dependence in communication

Pierce

Dynamical coexistence

Dynamical coexistence

Connection between an indexical sign and object of reference - connection is gained through directing addressees attention and presuming shared attention.

Deferred ostentation (Quine)

Indicated object not always the referent - it can be an indirect link. E.g. That has changed shape - at a coke bottle ‘actually mean to say the brand not the actual bottle’

Deictic centre

Contextually flexible (person, space and time deixis)

Projection of the deictic centre

The centre is projected to the hearer, not the speaker. It breaches the distance between the speaker and the hearer.

Goffman speaker roles (Conversation analysis)

Animator, Author, Principal

Animator

Who is saying the words

Author

Who chose the words

Principal

Who is represented by the words

Ratified, addressed participants

Private conversation, just 2 people

Ratified, unaddressed participants

More than 2 people, can overhear or shift questioning to everyone (like teacher to a big class)

Unratified, bystander participants

Speakers are aware of other people listening

Unratified, eavesdropper participants

Speakers are unaware of the listeners

Anaphora

Points inside of the text (Can only be 3rd person - not 1st/2nd)

Person deixis

Encodes speaker, addressee and others

Person deixis indicators

Personal pronouns/clitics, possessives, personal inflections on verbs and 1st/2nd and sometimes 3rd pronouns

Space deixis

Systems may encode distance, visibility, elevation or cardinal direction

Proximal form

Proximity, closer to the speaker

Distal form

Distance, more difference from the speaker

Deictic orientation

The figure is located with respect to the speaker and the ground (e.g. the cat is in front of the car)

Absolute orientation

Makes use of cardinal points in space - don’t change depending on the speaker (e.g. the cat is to the east of the car)

Intrinsic orientation

Some objects have intrinsic positions (e.g. the cat is behind the car)

Temporal deixis

Indicated by tense, which is inherently deictic. Truth value of any sentence depends on when it was uttered.

Non-calendrical unit

ALWAYS deictic, depends entirely on when the unit is used (e.g. yesterday)

Calendrical unit

May be deictic - units that have a fixed length or fixed space with other units (e.g. This morning, Tuesday)

Social deixis

Encode social relationships, not part of of the deictic centre so does NOT impact truth conditions

Referent honorifics

E.g. vous and tu - different pronouns that honor the referent

Bystander honorifics

E.g. Some Austronesian languages use dif. lang around in-laws - different language to honor the bystanders

Explicit social deixis

Purposefully communicating to the bystanders (e.g. ‘oh god’ ‘oh dear’)

Implicit social deixis

Words show how you deem the context (E.g. French has formal and informal words)

Indicative mood

Facts and declaratives

Imperative mood

Orders and demands

Subjunctive mood

Conidtional