DEIXIS; SPATIAL DEIXIS

ADVERB OF PLACE AND

DEMONSTRATIVES
IN “1984” GEORGE ORWELL’S NOVEL (1ST
CHAPTER)

Zara Ilyas
Eg-51
7th semester
 DEIXIS

The word deixis comes from the Greek δεῖξις and it is

a noun of the same verb family deicmyni what it
means to show, point, point out, among others.
In this way, the term deixis is applied to the use of
expressions in which the meaning depends on the
characteristics of the communicative act. This includes
when and where this act takes place, and who is
involved as a speaker and as a recipient
 DEIXIS

The deixis , in pragmatics and semantics, is a concept

that refers to the linguistic phenomenon by means of
which some words or phrases receive part of their
meaning via context and the orientation of the speaker.
For example, the words"now"and"here"are used to
refer respectively to the time and place of the
broadcast. The expression"in this city"is likely to be
interpreted as the city in which the statement takes
place
 TYPES OF DEIXIS

1.1 Personal deixis

1.2 Spatial Deixis
1.3 Temporal Deixis
1.4 Discourse deixis
1.5 Social deixis
 SPATIAL DEIXIS

The spatial deixis is the specification of the relative location

of the participants at the time of communication.
This is coded through ;
The demonstratives (this, that, that)
 The adverbs of place (here, there, above, below, above).
The gestural use can be shown through an eye-glaze or a
head movement for example “I dislike the colour of the
picture there.” (points to the picture).
The non-gestural use refers to an area an example would
be saying “I love it here!” whilst walking through a park
 EXAMPLE OF SPATIAL
DEIXIS:

"I have here , dear friends of mine, the story of the

adolescence of that whom you loved so much and
who no longer exists. Long time I've made you wait
these pages. After writing they have seemed pale and
unworthy to be offered as a testimony of my gratitude
and my affection. You do not ignore the words he
pronounced that terrible night, by placing in my hands
the book of his memories: "What there lack you
know; You can read even what my tears have erased."
 SPATIAL DEICTIC
WORDS CATEGORY

That -Distal term

Those- Distal term
This - Proximal term
These -Proximal term
There- Distal term
Here –Proximal term
SPATIAL DEIXIS
SPATIAL DEIXIS

There

Here

Adverbs of
place
Upward, down
, outside etc.
 CHAPTER 1 (PART A) OF “1984” NOVEL

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith,
his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly
through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a
swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage
and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had
been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a meter wide:
the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly
handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at
the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off
during daylight hours. It was part of the 10 economy drive in preparation for Hate
Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a
varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On
each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the
wall. It was one of those pictures which are designed to that the eyes follow you about
when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.
Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do
with the production of pig-iron.
 CONTINUE..
The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of
the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank
somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it
was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely. He
moved over to the window: a smallish, frail figure, the meagreness of his body merely
emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the party. His hair was very
fair, his face naturally cheerful, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor
blades and the cold of the winter that had just ended. Outside, even through the shut
window-pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were
whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a
harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything, except the posters that were
plastered everywhere. The black-moustachio’d face gazed down from every
commanding corner. There was one on the house-front immediately opposite. BIG
BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes looked deep into
Winston’s own. Down at street level another poster, torn at one corner, flapped fitfully
in the wind, alternately covering and uncovering the single word INGSOC. In the far
distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, hovered for an instant like a
bluebottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the police patrol,
snooping into people’s windows. The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought
Police mattered
 “1984” INTRODUCTION

Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a 

dystopian social science fiction novel and 
cautionary tale by English writer George Orwell. 
 Thematically, it centers on the consequences of 
totalitarianism, mass surveillance and 
repressive regimentation of people and behaviors
within society
SPATIAL DEIXIS (DEMONSTRATIVES AND ADVERB OF PLACE)IN “1984” NOVEL

Spatial Deixis Explanation

slipped quickly through the glass doors Showing direction of
movement
. At one end of it a cultured poster
for indoor display Shows position
The flat was seven flights up Shows place
varicose ulcer above his right ankle Shows direction of flate
face gazed from the wall Shows position of ulcer
Shows movement of face
, the caption beneath direction
Position of written name on
. Inside the flat poster
The voice came from an oblong metal plaque Direction of place
part of the surface of the right-hand wall Direction of voice
, but there was no way of shutting Identifies wall position
. He moved over to the window Demonstratives (distal)
Identifies direction of
Outside, even through the shut window-pane movement
Direction of movement
Spatial Deixis Refers to
. Down in the street Identifies position

, there seemed to be no colour in anything Demonstratives

posters that were plastered everywhere Demonstratives and

position of plaster
black-moustachio’d face gazed down from every
commanding corner. Position of gazing
face
There was one on the house-front
Demonstrative and
immediately opposite position

the dark eyes looked deep into Winston’s own Direction of seeing

. Down at street level Place identification

, torn at one corner Position of torn part

. In the far distance a helicopter skimmed down between the Identifies position of
roofs helicopter
, snooping into people’s windows Direction of
snooping
CONCLUSION

Deixis forms an important part of linguistics and

pragmatics and serves to interpret speech context.
Space deixis clarifies but sometimes creates ambiguity
.One object may be close to hearer but far from
speaker .So deixis can be use for fun purpose .Space
deixis in this presentation shows physical setting of
novel.
Spatial deixis are taken from 1 st chapter of novel
“1984”and identifies position of objects ,movements,
location ,direction etc.That part of novel contain very
few demonstratives as compared to adverbs of place.
 REFERENCES

Deictic Expression (Deixis). Retrieved on February

17, 2018, from thoughtco.com.
Hazen, K. (2014). An Introduction to Language. West
Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.
Renkema, J. (2004). Introduction to Discourse Studies.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
Rodríguez Guzmán J. P. (2005). Graphic grammar to
the juampedrino mode. Barcelona: Carena Editions