{"id":1119,"date":"2022-04-06T08:42:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T06:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/support.centreforelites.com\/introduction-to-deixis\/"},"modified":"2024-03-14T22:34:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T20:34:32","slug":"introduction-to-deixis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/support.centreforelites.com\/en\/introduction-to-deixis\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to Deixis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 Words such as <\/span>us, I, we, him, then, now, there, here<\/i> etc. usually identify referents so that the addressee may be able to quickly pick out a person, place or time relevant to the understanding of the intended meaning. These words are called \u2018indexical\u2019 and their functions, i.e. being able to encode the context are called \u2018deictic\u2019 borrowing from the Greek word meaning \u2018pointing\u2019 or \u2018to point out.\u2019 The above deictic references are therefore used as pointers to persons, place or time the speaker has in mind. It is important to note that it is the context of utterance that again gives meaning to indexical like <\/span>you, here, now,<\/i> or <\/span>there.<\/i>If you hear me say:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>(1)              <\/span><\/span><\/span>You, you and you, see me in my office<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>(2)              <\/span><\/span><\/span>You don\u2019t come here often, do you?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>(3)              <\/span><\/span><\/span>When you pick up the book, you don\u2019t know whether to read the entire text or a few chapters<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>(4)              <\/span><\/span><\/span>Now is the right place to meet there<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In (1) you will expect that I practically point specifically to certain persons using gestures or eye contact apart from just speaking. And you will also notice that each of the \u2018you\u2019 will refer to a different person whose identity will be known only by those present when I make the statement. In (2) \u2018you\u2019 refers to a particular person at a particular time and place and \u2018here\u2019 will be meaningful if both the speaker and the hearer are at the same place. My \u2018here\u2019 in (2) and \u2018now\u2019 and \u2018there\u2019 in (4) may not be your \u2018here\u2019 or \u2018now\u2019 if both of us are at different places and at different times. But notice the \u2018you\u2019 in (3). The \u2018you\u2019 does not refer to any particular referent, so that being present when it is used does not help you to identify the referent. This generalized use of \u2018you\u2019 is said to be non-deictic.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deictic expressions used to point to persons are called person deixis,<\/i> e.g. I, him, we, you etc. Place deixis<\/i> is used to point to locations e.g. here, there, beside, etc, while time deixis<\/i> is used to point to time, e.g. now, then, this evening, tomorrow etc.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Table of Contents<\/p>\n