PRAGMATICS – George Yule

Deixis and Distance

Before that….


QUIZ!!!
1. What is pragmatics?
2. Give example of pragmatics phenomenon!
3. How pragmatics help you in understanding
language phenomenon around you?
4. What is pragmatics Competence?
5. How to upgrade you pragmatics competence
Deixis and Distance
2.DEIXIS and DISTANCE

 DEIXIS: “pointing via langauge”

To accomplish this pointing we use deictic
expressions or indexicals.
i.e: “What’s that?” (used to indicate sth. in
the immediate context.)
2.DEIXIS and DISTANCE

Deictic expressions depend on the

speaker and hearer sharing the same
spatial context, in face-to face spoken
interaction.
Deixis is reference by means of an
expression whose interpretation is
relative to the (usually) extra
linguistic context of the utterance
Extra Linguistic Context of
The Utterance
who is speaking
the time or place of speaking
the gestures of the speaker
the current location in the discourse
Types of deixis

 Person deixis: used to point people. (me, you)

 Spatial deixis: used to point location (here, there).
 Temporal dexis: used to point location in time (now, then).
i.e: “I’ll put this here, ok?”
PERSON DEIXIS

There are 3 categories:

 SPEAKER (I)
 ADDRESSEE (YOU)
 OTHERS (HE- SHE-IT- THEY)
SOCIAL DEIXIS: forms used to indicate relative social status. In many languages
deictic categories become markers of relative social status.
HONORIFICS: expressions that mark that the addressee is of higher status.
Examples of SOCIAL DEIXIS

In Spanish the “Tú”- “Usted” distinction.

 The choice of one form will communicate something, not directly said, about
the speaker’s view of his relation with the addressee.
 The higher, older and more powerful speaker will tend to use the “tú” and
viceversa.
 Nowadays, the age distinction remains more powerful than the economic
distinction in many countries.
Using the 3rd person form

 Communicates distance and non-  Also used to make accusations:

familiarity. Also, it has an ironic or
“Somebody didn’t clean up after
humorous purpose.
himself” (less direct than “You
i.e: Would his highness like some didn’t clean”
coffee?
SPATIAL DEIXIS

Forms used to point to LOCATION DEICTIC PROJECTION: when speakers

act as if they are somewhere else.
i.e: “Here” and “There” “Come” and
“Go” i.e: “I´m not here now.” (telephone
answering machine)
Recording is a performance for a
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE
future audience in which I project
When speakers mark how close or my presence to be in the required
distant something is perceived to location.
be.
i.e: “That man over there” implies
psychological distance.
TEMPORAL DEIXIS

Forms used to point to location in time.

i.e: “now” - “then”
In contrast to now, the distal expression then applies to both past and future
time relative to the speaker’s present time.
i.e: “I was in Scotland then”
“I’ll see you then”
DEIXIS AND GRAMMAR

The distinctions for person, spatial, and temporal deixis can be seen at work in
English grammar structures such as DIRECT and INDIRECT (reported)SPEECH.

i.e: Are you planning to be here this evening? –

I asked her.
REPORTED FORM

 I asked her if she was planing to be there that evening

There’ s a shift from the “near speaker” meaning of direct speech to the “away
from speaker” meaning of reported speech, with the use of DISTAL DEICTIC
forms.
Near speaker  proximal terms ( this, here, now)
Away from speaker  distal terms (that, there, then)