DEIXIS AND ITS KINDS
- deictic expression – with deictic and non-deictic usage
 gestural use versus symbolic use
DEFINITION / kinds
PERSON DEIXIS
identifying the interlocutors or participant
roles in a speech event
- personal pronouns (1st, 2nd)
- singular, dual, plural
- inclusive, exclusive
- deictically-marked third person
pronouns – specify the location of the
intended referent with respect to the
speaker (deictic center)
- does not generally include the third as
it only shows a part of the ground. It
only gives reference to it. (Davidse,
et.al., 2008)
SOCIAL DEIXIS
codification of the social status of the speaker,
the addressee, or a third person or entity
referred to, as well as the social relationships
holding between them
includes social class, kin relationship, age, sex, *interjection
profession, ethnic group
1
OCCURRENCES IN ENGLISH
first person sing – I, me, my, mine
first person plural – we, us, our, ours
second person sing/plu **- you, your, yours
**meaning conversational in tone; not portraying a
usual character of God (e.g. healer, powerful) but
showing that the EC is conversing with ‘you’ who is
clearly God.
e.g. You are in control of everything. (=prayer you;
last classification, not person deixis)
I love You. (showing the relationship of EC with God,
can be argued to be person deixis)
I love You, Oh God. (showing the relationship of EC
with God, can now be argued to be an odd deixis –
last classification)
Lord, Oh Lord*
God, Oh God*
Jesus
My Lord, My Lord God
- non-deictic expression – e.g. third person pronouns
OCCURRENCES IN TAGALOG
first person sing – ako, ko, akin
first person plural – amin, namin, atin
second person sing – ikaw, mo, iyo
second person plu ** – kayo, inyo, ninyo
** is also often used in Tagalog with the honorific
(social deixis) ‘po.’ However, some ECs also use ‘po’
together with their second person singular pronouns
(i.e. ‘ikaw po’)
Panginoon
O Diyos
Hesus
po – Note its combinations with personal pronouns in
both English and Tagalog.
uses personal pronouns, forms of address,
affixes, clitics and particles, choice of
vocabulary; can be absolute (illustrated by
forms for authorized speakers) vs. relational
social deixis
TIME DEIXIS
encoding of temporal points and spans relative proximal – proximal –
to the time at which an utterance is produced - now, right now - ngayon
in a speech event - this month (complex deictic form) – can be - itong buwan na ito (Note the repetition of the
argued to be distal too place deixis ‘ito’ that is to be further explained
includes deictic adverbs of time (deictic - present tense-aspect combinations below.)
component – this, next, last + non-deictic
component – Monday, year = ‘this year’ – distal distal
complex deictic) - yesterday - kahapon
- then - dati
includes calendrical or non-calendrical, - noong isang araw
positional or non-positional, coding time
(moment of utterance) versus receiving time
(moment of reception), tenses
SPACE DEIXIS
specification of location in space relative to that of the participants at coding time in a speech event

considers visibility, elevation, distance, side, stance, direction, telicity (telic – destination is place of speaking, atelic – destination need not be the place of
speaking)

+ frames of reference (called by Gestalt theorists as such) – coordinate systems used to compute and specify the location of objects with respect to other
objects (referent or figure – the entity to be located; ground – landmark)
includes:
1. demonstratives (pronouns and proximal demonstratives proximal demonstratives
adjectives) and deictic adverbs of space - this, these or this nation, these people - ito, ang mga ito; itong sakit na ito, ganito, dito
distal demonstratives

2

2. deictically marked third person Huang, p.159 – “These pronouns specify the location of the intended referent with respect to the speaker. In
pronouns
DISCOURSE DEIXIS
to point to the current preceding or following
utterance in the same spoken or written
discourse; can be said to refer to propositions;
presents a new proposition
e.g. (Huang, 2007, p.172)
(a) This is how birds evolved….
(b) That is tonight’s evening news.
OTHER DEIXIS (Refer to endnotes.)
Weiss – prayer you / you alone of prayer
Dickey – prayer you vs. conversational you
MacKendrick – odd deixis
Huang – deictic verbs (originally under space
deixis) – verbs of motion, deictic directionals
(cannot be passivized)
3
- that, those (+ modifier use)
medial demonstratives
- iyan, ang mga iyan, iyang concern na iyan,
ganiyan, diyan
distal demonstratives
- iyon, ang mga iyon, iyong problemang iyon,
ganoon, doon
some languages, the encoding of distance is optional; in others, it is obligatory.” I see in English and Tagalog,
their third person pronouns (e.g. siya, sila, her, them) do not tell the location of the referent in relation to that
of the speaker.
The location is then elaborated by a space deixis and sometimes, the time deixis (i.e. sila noon doon).
actually, anyway, after all, besides, but, even, dahil, kung, at, gayundin, pero, na, kasi, kapag, kaya,
however, in conclusion, so, therefore, well kahit (na), pati rin
first person plural – us, we (referring to EC and God) first person dual – kita (‘ko’ – EC + ‘ikaw’ – God)
second person sing/plu? – you, your, yours *** second person sing**** – ikaw, mo, ka, iyo
second person plural**** - kayo, inyo, ninyo
*** appears within the same sentence containing a
form of address to God, may appear with the **** distinctly referring to God, showing His
Tagalog honorific ‘po’ characteristics, showing the relationship of the EC and
God (‘rabbinic prayer’, Weiss)
verb – come, go, lift, raise (See the positions of the honorific ‘po’).
 verb - itinataas

References:
Core FW – Huang, 2007
Other Deixis –
1. prayer you / you alone of prayer – Weiss
2. prayer you vs. conversational you – Dickey
3. odd deixis – MacKendrick
4. deictic verbs – originally under space deixis (by Huang)
a. verbs of motion
b. deictic directional
Other References
1. For Tagalog case markings –
2. For allusions and narratives –
3. For the kinds of quotations –
4. For the positions and use of honorifics –
5. For the tenses –