Chapter 2: Deixis and distance

Deixis is a technical term that means “pointing” via language. Any linguistic form used to
accomplish this “pointing” is called deictic expression/ indexical (ex. “that” in asking “What is
that?”). Such expressions fall into: person diexis (me, you), spatial deixis (here, there), and
temporal deixis (now, then). Their most basic use is in the face-to-face spoken interaction. Deixis
is tied to speaker’s context, with the most basic distinction between deictic expressions being
“near speaker” (proximal terms: this, here, now) (which are interpreted in terms of speaker’s
location (deictic center) versus “away from speaker” (distal terms: that, there, then).

Person deixis: includes the speaker I and the addressee YOU, so each person in a conversation
shifts from being I to being YOU. Person deixis operates on a basic 3-part division, exemplified
by pronouns I, YOU, S(HE), and IT. Deictic categories of speaker, addressee, and others are
elaborated with markers of relative status (expression which indicate higher status are described
as non-orifics). The discussion of circumstances which lead to the choice of one of these forms
rather than another is sometimes described as SOCIAL DEIXIS. (a well-known example of
social contrast encoded within person deixis is the distinction between forms used for a familiar
versus non-familiar addressee in some language, known as T/V DISTINCTION. (from French
TU-VOUS).

Spatial deixis: concept of distance. Contemporary English makes use of only two adverbs HERE
and THERE. In considering spatial deixis, it is important to remember that location from the
speaker’s perspective can be fixed mentally as well as physically. It refers to deictic projection,
when speakers temporally away from their home location will often continue to use HERE to
mean the physically distant home location. So, the truly pragmatic basis of spatial deixis is
actually PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE (physically close objects will be treated as
psychologically close).

Temporal deixis: now (present), then (past, future). Non-deictic temporal reference: calendar
time, clock time. The psychological basis of temporal deixis seems to be similar to that of special
deixis, because we can treat temporal events as objects that move towards us or away from us.

Deixis and grammar: the basic distinction presented for person, spatial, and temporal deixis can
all be seen at work in English grammar- the distinction between direct and indirect speech.