Deixis and grounding in speech and thought representation [An article from: Journal of Pragmatics]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Pragmatics, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The aim of this paper is to arrive at a more accurate characterization of the grounding (Langacker, 1991. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Volume II: Descriptive Application. Stanford University Press; Stanford.) involved in the reported clauses of the distinct categories of speech and thought representation (STR). These categories involve different modes of establishing the second-order ''I-you, here-now'' of the speech event centering around the represented (i.e. not the actual) speaker. A cline in terms of distinct levels of speech function (re-)enactment will be proposed across the polar opposites of direct and indirect speech/thought, and the 'non-canonical' categories of free indirect and distancing indirect speech/thought. In the latter type, an initiating clause is first entered into the discourse as a straightforward claim on the part of the speaker, only to be nuanced afterwards in a sort of distancing or disclaiming afterthought (e.g. He mailed you earlier today, he said). The non-canonical types of free and distancing indirect speech or thought are contrasted grammatically in terms of personal and temporal deixis.