Discourse deixis or textual deixis

 

Discourse deixis, also called text deixis, refers to the use of expressions within an utterance to refer to parts of the discourse that contain the information being discussed. Examples of discourse deixis include:

Using demonstratives like "this" or "that" to refer back to elements mentioned earlier in the same discussion, such as "This is an amazing book." after mentioning a book previously

Indicating relationships between sections of a text using expressions like "earlier," "later," "previously," or "next": "During the last chapter, we learned about X, but in the next chapter, we will explore Y."

These examples demonstrate how discourse deixis allows speakers to create cohesion within a narrative or argument by linking new information to existing material.

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In an essay, you might encounter a sentence like “At this point, I would like to discuss X, Z, and Y.” The phrase “at this point” is an example of discourse deixis. Its meaning can only be understood by knowing where that specific point is within the discourse.

Discourse deixis refers to the use of linguistic expressions to refer to elements within the ongoing conversation or discourse. There are three main types of discourse deixis: anaphora, cataphora, and deixis ad sedem. Here are examples of each:

Anaphora:

Definition: Anaphora involves referring to something mentioned earlier in the discourse.

Example: "John bought a new car. He loves the way it handles on the road." In this example, "He" is an anaphoric reference to "John."

Cataphora:

Definition: Cataphora involves referring to something that appears later in the discourse.

Example: "Although tired, Mary continued to walk. She was determined to reach her destination." Here, "She" is cataphoric, as it refers to "Mary," which appears later in the text.

Deixis ad Sedem:

Definition: Deixis ad sedem involves referring to something in relation to the physical or abstract position of the speaker or listener.

Example: "I'll take this one," pointing to a chair nearby. The demonstrative "this" relies on the physical position of the speaker to indicate which chair is being referred to.

These examples illustrate how language users utilize deixis to establish reference points within a conversation or discourse, making communication more coherent and context-dependent. https://chat.openai.com/c/66ee7c47-054d-4372-8858-01ea60e7fd45

Switch reference in discourse deixis is a grammatical feature where the relationship between clauses is indicated without explicit cross-references, typically by using special morphology or syntax to show whether the arguments of one clause are the same as those of the preceding clause

An example of switch reference in discourse deixis could be taken from a hypothetical language that uses distinct suffixes to indicate the relationship between subjects in adjacent clauses:

John went to school yesterday, and then he-same came home tired.

Mary cooked dinner, and then she-diff ate it with her family.

In this case, "-same" and "-diff" are switch reference morphemes indicating that the subject of the second clause is the same as or different from the first clause, respectively

Token reflective deixis, on the other hand, refers to expressions that directly refer to the text itself, often highlighting aspects of the discourse structure or drawing attention to particular pieces of information

For instance, in English, a simple example of token reflective deixis could be:

Earlier in this text, we defined phonetics as the branch of linguistics concerned with sounds.

Here, we discuss its subfield known as phonemics.

Here, the term "this" refers to the text itself, specifically the definition given earlier in the document

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