What is Deixis?
Definition: Deixis refers to words and phrases that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual information. They indicate relative locations, times, or participants in an utterance.
Example: "Meet me here one week from now and bring a stick about this thick."
Contextual Flexibility of the Deictic Center
Examples of Deictic Center Usage:
Teacher to Class: "Clap your hands now!" (Immediate context and action).
Supervisor to Dissertation Student: "I think you should begin writing the next chapter now." (Advice based on current status).
Personal Reflection: "Now that I’m getting older, I really do find that policemen look younger." (Change in perception over time).
Historical Context: "From the Iron Age till now, man has been making increasingly complex artefacts." (Temporal deictic reference).
Interactive Recommendation: "The second screw should go here." (Locational reference during a task).
Casual Conversation: A: "What time will you leave work today?" – B: "I’ll be here until around 5:30-6’ish." (Timing reference).
Cultural Context: A: "Maybe that’s how you do things in your country, but here we…" (Cultural deixis).
Group Discussion: A: "Should we have it here?" – B: "Yes, I think that’s a good idea. I’d be happy to host it in Seville." (Locational decision-making).
Projection of the Deictic Center
Examples of Deictic Projection:
Nursing Context: "My, we are looking pale today!" (Immediate spatial and social connection).
Dinner Invitation: A: "Would you like to come to dinner at our house on Saturday?" – B: "That would be lovely. I’ll bring a bottle of wine, shall I?" (Interpersonal context).
TV Critique: "The impressive thing is the way the producers [of Make Me Prime Minister] seem to have found some candidates who are at least as bad at being prime minister as the one we’ve got. Well, maybe. I’m writing this a few days ago." (Temporal and situational reference).
Gestural vs Symbolic Deixis
Examples of Gestural Deixis:
In a Clothes Shop: "I don’t like this dress. Let me try that one instead." (Pointing as a gesture).
Gym Teacher's Instruction: "I want you, you, and you on team A." (Directly pointing to students).
Lecture Context: "This city was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution." (Reference to a location).
Assignment Reminder: "For next week, [I] [want] [you] to read the chapter on sign language." (Instructional context).
Deixis vs Anaphora
Definition of Anaphora: Anaphora is the use of a word referring back to a word used earlier in a discourse.
Examples:
A: "Which one of those guys is Max?" – B: "[pointing] HE is." (Identification through pointing).
"Max is my brother. He’s an architect." (Following reference).
"Give me that apple!" (Object identification).
"Max handed me another apple. That one, too, was rotten." (Reference through description).
"Put your coat over there!" (Locational instruction based on context).
"We’re going to Korea this summer. I’ve never been there before." (Temporal and locational reference).
Deictics and Anaphora: Reference
Examples of Reference:
Cooking Instruction: "Kill an active plump chicken. Prepare it for the oven, cut it into four pieces, and roast it with thyme for 1 hour." (Sequential process with references).
Pointing Example: "Well, they didn’t steal it. [=Our car, left on the street for a long time]" (Reference through situational context).
Traffic Context: "He’ll get a ticket. [=Whoever that car belongs to]" (Implied reference).
Generalization: "They can park anywhere. [=The police can.]" (Contextual interpretation).
Product Comparison: "That’s the new one. [=The Tesla model S, as opposed to model 3.]" (Defining reference).
Personal Situation: "She might be hiding under there. [=Our runaway cat.]" (Referential significance).
Societal Commentary: "That’s what’s nice about the suburbs. [=Easy parking.]" (General observation).
A Type of Deixis We Won’t Be Discussing: Discourse Deixis
Examples of Psephology Inquiry:
A: "What is psephology?" – B: "How do you spell it?" (Topic referencing).
Conversational Example: "John is not unintelligent. On the contrary, he’s quite bright." (Contrast in discourse).
Japanese Sentence: "Ano-hon-wa John-gaSubj kat-ta." – ‘John bought that book.’ (Specific reference).
French Sentence: "La philo, j’aime bien. Les maths, par contre, je déteste." – ‘I like philosophy, but I hate math.’ (Discourse contrasts).
Gestalt Definition and Analysis
Definition: A Gestalt comprises two fundamental components:
Figure: The main object of focus.
Ground: The background or surrounding context.
Spatial Relations in Deixis
Examples of Spatial Relations:
Relative Orientation: Where [ground] is the cat [figure]?
"The cat is in front of the tree." (Deictic orientation).
"The cat is to the north/south/east/west of the tree." (Absolute orientation).
Additional Examples:
Locating the Cat: "The cat is in front of the car." (Deictic).
"The cat is to the north/south/east/west of the car." (Absolute).
"The cat is behind the car." (Intrinsic orientation).
Social Deixis: Referent Honorifics
T/V Pronouns in Various Languages:
French: "Tu veux un café ?" (informal) vs "Vous voulez un café ?" (formal).
Danish: "Vil du have en kop kaffe?" (informal) vs "Vil De have en kop kaffe?" (formal).
German: du/Sie (informal/formal).
Spanish: tu/Usted (informal/formal).
Italian: tu/Lei (informal/formal).
Social Deixis: Addressing Honorifics in Japanese
Example Sentence: "This is a book."
Informal: これは本だ (kore wa hon da).
Polite: これは本です (kore wa hon desu).
Formal Polite: これは本であります (kore wa hon de arimasu).
Formal Honorific: これは本でございます (kore wa hon de gozaimasu).
Social Deixis: Bystander Language and Interaction
Group Interaction Analysis:
CH: "Let’s move on now please to another question."
M: "Marie Higgins (.) Would the team agree (.) that the millions of dollars now spent on a moon-shuttle (.) [could…"
PM: "[oh god…"
M: "…be better utilized to solve the problems of this planet="
PM: "=oh dear…"
Q: "…you’ve had sexual intercourse on a previous occasion, haven’t you?"
A: "Yes."
Q: "On many previous occasions?"
A: "Not many."
Q: "Several?"
A: "Yes."
Q: "With several men?"
A: "No."
Q: "Just one?"
A: "Two."
Q: "Two. And you are seventeen and a half?"
A: "Yes."
Social Deixis: Setting and Vocabulary Usage in French
Vocabulary Examples:
Neutral vs Colloquial:
Money: Argent – fric
Room: Chambre – piaule
Book: Livre – bouquin
Food: Nourriture – bouffe
Work: Travail – boulot
Clothes: Vêtements – fringues
Car: Voiture – bagnole
Friend: Ami(e) – copain/copine
Verbal Expressions:
To understand: Comprendre – piger
To die: Mourir – crever
To hurry: Se dépêcher – se magner
To eat: Manger – bouffer
To leave: Partir – se casser
To work: Travailler – bosser
Descriptive Terms:
Good-looking: Beau – bien foutu
Funny: Drôle – marrant
Boring: Ennuyeux – barbant
Crazy: Fou – dingue
Ugly: Laid – moche
Annoying: Embêtant – lourd
Bad: Mauvais – nul
Nothing: Rien – que dalle
Deconstructing the Speaker: Goffman (1981)
Example of Speaker’s Attitude: "And the whole time she’s like, {mocking voice} I’m bored, there’s nothing to do here, can we go soon?" (Representation of speaker's perspective).
Allegation Example: "Le Premier Ministre serait malade." (The PM is (allegedly) ill.)
Personal Testimony: "John was coming tomorrow. (He told me so.)" (Subjective report from the speaker).
Conversation Analysis: Recipient Design
Definition: Designing an utterance tailored to different potential recipients.
Example Interaction:
"They just staple it. And the earring is in and you leave it in. (0.4) for:, (0.6) for:, (0.4) six weeks or something?" (Contextual framing).
Addresses to Specific Individuals in Conversation:
"John…"
"Don…"
"Beth…"
"Ann…"
Personal Testimony about Quitting: "I gave up smoking cigarettes."
Agreement Example: "Yeah."
Sequence of Events Indicated: "I- uh: one- one week ago today, actually…"