1.1 The concept of deictic centre
Deixis deals with the words and expressions whose reference relies entirely on the circumstances of the utterance. For that reason these special expressions and their meaning in discourse can only be understood in light of these circumstances. The term deictic centre underlines that the deictic term has to relate to the situation exactly at the point where the utterance is made or the text is written. One could even say that the deictic centre is the unmarked “anchorage point” from which the utterance is made. To decode the meaning of a sentence we use a “navigation system”.
In our day-to-day conversational exchanges, the speaker does not consciously use deictic expressions, as well as the adressee usually understands the utterance immediately (meaning that the adressee does not need much time to think about an utterance before understanding the message). Deixis makes discourse easier and more effective, giving us a means to pass more information in less time. Nevertheless, there are certain situations making an interpretation difficult or even impossible, mostly when we only get chunks of information and therefore lack context. If, for example, a person tells a story and forgets to give the essential information a deictic term refers to, we will grow aware of the weakness the deictic system features. Or if the fax machine just receives the second page of a letter, beginning with "Then he was quite embarrassed about it " - the adressee will never be able to guess what "then", "he" and "it" stands for. Similar gaps arise if we read about an utterance made in the past and lack information about the references. Although the adressee at that time could easily have understood the sense, we may not be capable of getting the original meaning. Even if we knew the context in detail, this might not be sufficient to understand discourse, for example if a special gesture is made when pointing at a building while saying: "I lived there two years ago."
1.2 Linguistic categories
The Greek origin of the term deixis meaning pointing via language already hints at its function. According to Yule (1996:9), "Deixis is clearly a form of referring that is tied to the speaker´s context". This again leads us to the concept of...
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...operative principle, namely he tries to deceive me.
5. I also do not think that B´s sentence is entirely pointless.
6. As 3 and 4 are not true, B must be trying to put across some other proposition
7. Is there a related meaning B´s utterance hints at?
8. In this case, the only obviously related proposition is the exact opposite of the one B has expressed.
9. Therefore the only plausible explanation is that B is quite annoyed at me calling this early.
10. I will accept this meaning unless context hints at a more persuasive interpretation
3 References
Grice, H. Paul. 1975. "Logic and conversation". In: Cole, P. and J. Morgan (eds.).
Pragmatics. (Syntax and Semantics 9). New York: Academic Press, 41-58
Levinson, Stephen. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP
Mey, Jacob. 1993. Pragmatics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Thomas, Jenny. 1995. Meaning and Interaction. An Introduction to Pragmatics. London:
Longman.
Yule, George. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford UP
B. Despite all the odds Eugene Debs helped shape the America into what it is today, by struggled until
(b) If God is were truly omnipotent, he would then be capable of eliminating evil;
#3. The existence of a contingent being must be explained by something other than itself.
B. A homeless man who goes by the name of “Red” says that shelters are very unsafe. While in a shelter he once was stabbed and robbed for his sneakers. He says he rather ride the trains all night before he stays in another shelter.
C. Finally, I will explain why rules need to be enforced in regard to helmet safety.
B. No individual should sacrifice their moral principles in return for unjust circumstances implemented amongst federal government.
C. The quote above supporting the idea of the people without access to an education and illiterate, it is ease to
B. My views are better than my opponents views, because the 2nd Amendment in the "Bill of Rights"
B. There are 27 million human beings that are bound to servitude through out the world today.
D. it is very difficult to lead people to construct memories of events that never happened.
is such that (a) if the consequences of the alternative had been as the agent expected
(ii) A standardised argument which draws on your answers to Part (i). You should include:
A4. For any X and Y, if X is morally superior to Y, then X is morally justified in subordinating Y.
A. I will talk to you about overpopulation of deer in Alabama, while convincing you why
B. i ask that you should think about these precautions and take them into thought