Dexis and Distance

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Pragmatics:

Deixis and Distance

http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJERhttp://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

DR. Shadia Y. 11

By:Dr. Shadia Y.

Banjar

PRAGMATICS


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The word deixis is atechnical term (fromGreek) for one of the

most basic things wedo with utterances,

which means

Deixis

Definition


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1: any linguistic form used

to accomplish pointing iscalled a deictic

expression.2: deictic expressions

are also known as

Definitions


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Deictic expressions are meaningful in a givencontext.

They are among the first words acquired bychildren.

In order to be interpreted correctly, the speakerand listener have to share the same context.

They are particularly useful in face-to-face

communication.

Deictic expressions


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Types of Deixis

PERSON DEIXIS : Anyexpression used to point to a person( me, you, him, them) is an example ofPERSON DEIXIS. SPACE/SPATIAL/PLACEDEIXIS : Words used to point to alocation ( here, there) are examples of

PLACE DEIXIS. TIME/TEMPORALDEIXIS : The expression used to

point to a time ( now, then, tonight, lastweek, esterda ) are exam les of TIME


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: DISCOURSE DEIXIS: anyexpression used to refer to earlieror forthcoming segments of thediscourse: in the previous/next

paragraph, or Have you heard thisjoke?

SOCIAL DEIXIS: honorifics

(forms to show respect such asProfessor Li).


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PersonDeixis

a speech event includes at least two persons: first person = speaker second person = addresseeIf the two persons do not only refer to themselves whiletalking, there is a third person ( = the person they aretalking about), that does not have to take part in theconversation.Usually the third person is not grammatically marked,because the only two persons of importance are the firstperson (speaker = most important) and the second person(addressee = less important).only in English: the suffix (-s) for the third person.The traditional category of plural is not symmetricallyapplied to first person (we) in the way it is to the third

(they) In addition there are two first person `plural` pronouns,corresponding to `we-inclusive-of-addressee` and `we-exclusive-of-addressee`:

Let`s go to the cinema. = `we-inclusive-of-addressee`

Let`s go to see you tomorrow. =`we-exclusive-of-addressee`


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Pronouns:

grammatical category for a person: personalpronouns All languages have personal pronouns or at

least words, that refer to the participants

of the speech act.The pronouns of the first (I-my-mine) andsecond person (you- your-yours) are deictic: reference to the speaking person.It is also possible to have deictic pronouns for the

third person.Definite and specific pronouns: this, that, those, orthese.Indefinite and specific pronouns: somebody ,something , who, what.

Indefinite and non-specific pronouns: someone ,something , nobody, nothing.

PersonDeixis


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Place Deixis

concerns the locations relative to anchorage points in the

speech event (speaker = centre),two basic ways of referring to objects: by describing or namingthem and by locating them,locations can be specified relative to other objects: The station is two hundred yards from the college.locations can be specified relative to the location of participants;

It's two hundred yards away.some pure place-deictic words: here and there (adverbs); thisand that(demonstrative pronouns);

=> symbolic usage ofhere = pragmatically given unit ofspace that includes the location of the speaker; I'm writing to say I'm having a marvellous time

here.Adverbs: here and there = contrast on a proximal/distaldimension; here = proximal (near); there = distal ( more distant) Bring thathere and take this there.

Demonstrative pronouns are more clearly organized in aproximal/distal dimension.


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this = the object in a pragmatically given areaclose to the speaker's location,that = the object beyond the pragmatically givenarea close to the speaker's location,some languages have demonstratives with 3 and

4 way distinctions on the proximal-distaldimension;( North West American language Tlingit) demonstratives distinguish between this one right here this on nearby that one over there that one way over thereDirections: to the left from; to the right from

PlaceDeixis


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motion verbs = signs of place deixis

come vs. go makes distinction betweenthe direction of motion He's coming = he is moving towards the

speaker's location. He's going = he is moving away from the

speaker's location. I'm coming = the speaker is moving

towards the location of the addressee. come = movement towards either the

location of the speaker, or towards thelocation of the addressee.

PlaceDeixis


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TimeDeixis

makes ultimate reference to participant-role

=> ex.: now = the time at which the speaker is producingthe utterance containing now.

distinguish the moment of utterance (= coding time (CT)) andthe moment of reception (= receiving time (RT)).

in the canonical situation of utterance (deictic simultaneity)

=> CT =RT

It is cold outside. (normal speech act)complexities in the usage of tense, time adverbs and othertime-deictic morphemes (letter writing, or pre- recording ofmedia programmes)

=> deictic centre remains on the speaker and CT: This programme, is being recorded today, Wednesday April

1st, to be relayed next Thursday.

=> deictic centre is projected on the addressee and RT:

This programme was recorded last Wednesday, April 1st, to

be relayed today. (deictic centre was projected into thefuture)

Ti


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Tenses:Tenses = time relations in connection to a given point intime present = an event/action simultaneously to the speech

act (work) past = an event/action before the speech act (worked) future = an event/action after the speech act (you will

work)

there are language systems with more than 3 possibilities they distinguish between levels of past, dependent on

their distance from the speaker's utterance tense of immediate past

=> ex.: frz. Jean vient de resoudre le problme.John has just been able to solve the problem.

difference between absolute tense absolute tense refers immediately to the time of the

speaker's utterance: simple past, simple presentRelative tenses refer to other tenses: past perfect: event refers to another event, that happens

afterwards

TimeDeixis


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tenseless eternal sentences: Two and two is four.languages without true tenses: Chinesetime deixis is relevant to various other deicticelements in language: ex.: greetings

=> Good morning.can only be used in the morning

expressions:=> the former president, my ex-

husband

TimeDeixis


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Deictic center: the time of the utterancestime; the place of the utterances place, the

person just giving the utterance.Near speakeraway from

speaker

Proximal distal

This, here, now that,there, then


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also called text deixis.

concerns the use of expressions referring toapart of the discourse.while within time deixis: next week, lastweek,discourse deixis: in the next chapter,in the last paragraph.

in discourse deixis, there are many words andphrases in English that indicate therelationship between utterance and the priordiscourse: but, therefore, in conclusion, to the

contrary, still, however, anyway, well,besides, actually, all in all, so, after all

all these words make reference to astatement, sentence etc. that was saidbefore

some languages have morphemes that mark

such discourse notions

Discourse Deixis


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concerns those aspects of languagestructure that encode the social identities ofparticipants, or the social relationshipbetween them,but these usages are only relevant to the

topic of social deixis in so far as they aregrammaticalized: polite pronouns e.g.Vous, address

titles.social relations concern in all thoseexamples the relation between the speakerand the addressee, especially the countries.in East Asia are known for having severallevels of politeness, based on the socialdifference between the persons concerned.

SocialDeixis


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Certain words like here there, this, that ,now , then, yesterday as well as mostpronouns such as I , you, him, her , themcan only be understood if we know aboutthe context in which they are used.

For example, the sentence, youll have tobring that back tomorrow, because theyarent here, out of context will be quiteunintelligible.

Because this sentence contain largenumber of certain expressions ( Deixis)which depend for their interpretation onthe immediate physical context in whichthey are uttered.

Using Deixis


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All these expressions have to beinterpreted in terms of what person ,

place or time the speaker has in mind. There is a broad distinction betweenwhat is marked as distant( that ,there,then). It is also possible to markwhether the movement is happeningtowards the speakers location( come)or away from speakers location (go) If

you are looking for someone and he orshe appears moving towards you, youtend to say Here she Comes! If ,

however, she/he is moving away from


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People can actually use Deixis tohave fun. The coffee shop owner who

puts up a big sign that reads Freesnacks Tomorrow ( to get you toreturn to his shop) can always claim

that you are one day too early forthe meal.


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Deixis and GrammarGrammar :

the study of the rules governing the use of a givennatural language, and, as such, is a field of linguistics.Traditionally, grammar included morphology and syntax.In modern linguistics these subfields are complementedby phonology, semantics, and pragmatics.

Pragmatics:how do people use sentences in communication,

Characterize acceptable/unacceptable use. It is no longer possible to consider sentences in

isolation: we need to take the context into account. We look beyond truth-conditional meanings.

Deixis: those words in a language that entirely depend oncontext (Fromkin, et. al., 1991). The meaning of deixisis 'pointing to' something. In verbal communicationhowever, deixis in its narrow sense refers to thecontextual meaning of pronouns, and in its broad

sense, what the speaker means by a particularutterance in a iven s eech context.


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eixis and Grammar

The basic distinctions for person, spatial,and temporal deixis can be seen inEnglish grammar are presented in directand indirect speech.

Are you planning to be here thisevening?

( DIRECT SPEECH)I asked her if she was planning to be

there that evening.

( INDIRECT SPEECH)


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When reporting a previous utterance, theutterance is marked deictically as relative tothe original circumstances.

the proximal forms will be shifted to the

corresponding distal forms.The proximal deictic forms of a direct

speech give the sense of being in the samecontext as the utterance.The distal deictic forms of an indirect

speech give the sense of being remote asthe original speech event.The regular difference in English reported

discourse marks a distinction between the

near speaker meaning of direct speech and


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Dexis and Distance