Transcript Discourse analysis, lecture 6

Discourse analysis,
lecture 6
May 2012
Carina Jahani
[email protected]
Deixis
Greek: deixis ”display, demonstration,
reference”
point of reference
Deixis
• deixis refers to the phenomenon wherein
understanding the meaning of certain words and
phrases in an utterance requires contextual
information
I think it is warm here today
• Who thinks?
• Where is it warm?
• When is it warm?
Deictic centre
• A deictic center, sometimes referred to as an
origo (ground zero), is a set of theoretical
points that a deictic expression is ‘anchored’
to, such that the evaluation of the meaning of
the expression leads one to the relevant point.
• Deictic expressions are frequently egocentric,
in which case the center often consists of the
speaker at the time and place of the utterance
(I, here, now).
Deictic centre
• Absolute and relative tense
• Direct and indirect deictic centre
Types of deixis
•
•
•
•
Person deixis
Social deixis
Time deixis
Place (space) deixis
Person deixis
– Person deixis concerns itself with the grammatical
persons involved in an utterance (speaker,
addressee, persons mentioned).
Social deixis and honorific
• Involves the persons
• Marking of social status
• Often 2rd person pronouns, sometimes also
3rd person pronouns
• Honorifics various morphological markings as
well as different lexicons being used based on
the social status of the interactants.
Time deixis
– Time, or temporal, deixis concerns itself with the
various times involved in and referred to in an
utterance.
Verb tense
Temporal adverbs
Direct and indirect time reference
• Absolute and relative tense
Could you please buy me some stamps, if you go
to town this afternoon.
Persian:
If you went to town this afternoon, could you
please buy me some stamps.
Two deictic centres
Ikväll när jag kommer hem ska du ha gjort dina
läxor.
(Tonight when I get home you must have done
your homework.)
Direct and indirect use of temporal
adverbs
• today, tomorrow
See Roberts (2009: 240-241) and Barjasteh
Delforooz (2010: 132-133) for interesting exs of
indirect use.
• now
See Barjasteh Delforooz (2010: 122-128)
”now” in Balochi
• proximal temporal deixis
(4.2, 4.3)
• the time frame of the narration
(4.6, 4.7)
• the next event
(4.8, 4.9, 4.10)
• the previous event
(4.11, 4.12)
”now” in Balochi
• non-temporal use of now
To focus on important information
”developmental now”
(4.13)
”now of conclusion”
(4.14)
Place (space) deixis
– Place deixis, also known as space deixis, concerns
itself with the spatial locations relevant to an
utterance (this-that, here-there). Three-way
distinction: idā, ōdā, ādā. Complex systems: up
here, down here, up there, down there etc.
– Motion verbs
• come – go
• bring - take
Motion verbs and the deictic centre
The king sent his soldiers to bring the dragon.
The dragon was not willing to go but
they brought it by force.
Deictic centre
Speaker’s perspective
Bring and take
• Contrary to what some might believe, “bring”
and “take” are oftentimes interchangeable.
While there may be those who prefer to
observe a distinction between “bring” and
“take”, it does not mean that those who do
not observe this distinction are wrong.
Speaker’s perspective
Oftentimes the choice between “take” and “bring”
depends on the speaker’s point of view.
He brings his lunch to work every day. (emphasizes
movement in the direction of the destination)
She takes her lunch to work every day. (emphasizes
movement away from the starting point)
This is the idea: “They take their lunch away from
home. They bring their lunch to their workplace.
Speaker’s perspective
It’s going to rain. Remember to take an umbrella
with you.
– carry it with you from the point at which you start
It’s going to rain. Remember to bring an
umbrella with you.
– carry it with you to your destination
Types of deixis
• Discourse deixis
– Discourse deixis, also referred to as text deixis,
refers to the use of expressions within an
utterance to refer to parts of the discourse that
contains the utterance – including the discourse
itself.
In this text, below, aforementioned, above etc. etc.
Anaphoric reference
• In anaphora, as opposed to cataphora,
reference is made based on preceding parts of
the utterance.
Susan looked at herself in the mirror.
Cataphoric reference
• In cataphora, reference is made based on
succeeding parts of the utterance.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Susan realized
that she had lost some weight.
Exophoric and homophoric reference
An exophoric reference is to language outside of
the text in which the reference is found. ”Did
you watch that movie.”
(As opposed to endophoric reference, found in
the text)
A homphoric reference is a generic phrase that
obtains a specific meaning through knowledge
of its context. ”The king”, ”the president”