( classification of deixis, anaphora, referential ambiguity )

Deixis as Parts of Reference Deixis or the method of pointing something with words is also a part of
reference. Why? the referential meaning means make the words which actually have a literally meaning
but changed into the speaker meaning. and it is happened as well in deixis, which has pointing function
that can refers the meaning into the meaning the speaker means.

Classification of Deixis Charles F. Meyer ( 2009 ), there are three classification of deixis
1. Referential Deixis Referential deixis is the deixis which is used to point a word or words refer to
something.  The speaker refers to:
Themself : I, me and we and us
The addresse : you (singular and plural)
Other people or third people : he/him, she/her, it, they/them
 Example : Would you like to have an ice cream cone?
He tried to hurt me but they came to the rescue

2. Spatial Deixis Spatial deixis is the deixis which is used to point a place
 The speaker’s purpose :
Identify entities : demonstrative pronouns (this/these : that/those)
Inform about location of an entity : adverbs (here/there), prepositions (above/below) Acknowledge
location of an entity : (come/go)
 Example : He was sitting over there
We love living here

3. Temporal Deixis Temporal deixis is the deixis which is used to point the time. It locates time or points
or intervals on the time axis using the moment of utterance, as a reference point.
 Deictic elements that can be identified:
Time Adverbials: before, yesterday, last year (before utterance), today, now (moment of utterance), soon,
after (after utterance)
“Did you call me last night?
 Tenses
Rachael booked a cake
Rachael is booking a cake
Rachael had booked a cake
Anaphora According to Charles W. Kreidler (1994 : 145) ,Anaphora is a kind of secondary reference in
which a previous reference is recalled by use of special function words or equivalent lexemes.
Examples : Jack and Jill tried to lift the box and push it onto the top shelf.

Referential Ambiguity Misunderstandings occur when the speaker has one referent in mind but the
listener thinks it is different.
Some referential ambiguity occurs when :
1. An idefinite referring expression may be specific or not I wanted to buy a newspaper Here a newspaper
may refer to a specific newspaper or some newspaper,any newspaper.
2. Anaphora is unclear because a personal pronoun, he, she, it or they, can be linked to either of two
referring expressions: Jack told Ralph that a visitor was waiting for him.

 the pronoun you is used generically or specifically:

If you want to get ahead, you have to work hard Is you the addressee or is this sentence a general
platitude?)
 4. a noun phrase with every can have distributed reference or collected reference:
35 I’m buying a drink for everybody here.
(One drink for all or one drink for each?)
AMBIGUITY
 Ambiguity can bedefined as a word, phrase or sentence that has more than one meaning or
interpretation.
 In some cases, listener are consciously aware of ambiguity in an expression.
 Ambiguity is a type of uncertainty of meaning in which several interpretations are possible.  The
concept of ambiguity is generally contrasted with lack of definition.
 Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity.

Types of ambiguity
 Structural ambiguity  Lexical ambiguity
 Structural ambiguity:  Structural ambiguity refers to the situation in which a sentence may have
different meanings because the words of a sentence are related to each other in various ways, even though
each word is clear.
 syntactic ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or
sequence of words. Also called structural ambiguity or grammatical ambiguity
For Example:
 Small boys and girls are playing hide and seek.
 Explanation can show in the first sentence two ideas:
i. Small boys are playing with young girls.
ii. Small boys and all girls are playing.
 Distinct underlying interpretations that have to be represented differently in deep structure is called
Structural Ambiguity.