Near The Speaker (Proximal) and Away From The Speaker (Distal) - Proximal Deictic Then

R.
Albu, Semantics and Pragmatics
WORKSHEET 8
I. State for each pronoun in the following sentences whether it is free, bound, or either bound or free.
Consider each sentence independently.
Example: John found himself in love with her.
himself--bound; her--free
Example: John said that he loved her.
he--bound or free; her--free
1. I hope you’ll join us tomorrow.
2. The fact that he considers her pretty pleases Maria.
3. Whenever I see you, I think of her.
4. John discovered that a picture of himself was hanging in the Post Office, and that fact bugged him, but it
pleased her.
5. It seems that she and he will never stop arguing with them.
6. Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves. (On a sign in a cemetery.)
7. Louise said to herself in the mirror, 'I'm so ugly.'
II. Circle any deictic expression in the following sentences. (All sentences do not include such expressions.)
1. We saw her standing there.
2. Dogs are animals.
3. Last week, all my troubles seemed so far away.
4. The name of this rock band is "The Beatles".
5. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
6. The Declaration of Independence was signed last year.
7. Copper conducts electricity.
8. The treasure chest is on the right.
9. These are the times that try men's souls.
10.I want this, and this, and this. (Q: How many objects does he want?)
Note: Deixis is clearly tied to the speaker's context, the most basic distinction being between
near the speaker (proximal) and away from the speaker (distal). Proximal deictic
expressions include this, here and now. Distal deictic expressions include that, there and
then.
When the hearer sees the speaker make gestures, as in example 10 above, we speak of gestural deixis. In
other cases, when there is agreement between speaker and hearer resulting from sharing/being familiar with a
certain context, as in 9, we speak of symbolic deixis. The symbolic usage of deictic terms expects the
addressee only to know the “basic spatio-temporal parameters of the speech event” (Levinson 1983, 65).
III. Discuss the uses of this and that in the following sentences in terms of space, time, person and discourse
deixis, proximal vs. distal, as well as in terms of gestural, symbolic and emotional uses:
a. (Speaker pointing to an object close to her): This stinks.
b. This city stinks.
c. And here comes this guy and says, “Your money or your life!”
d. A: Here comes Janet.
B: I can’t stand that woman
e. I’m very busy this week.
f. A: Listen to this: it will kill you.
B: That was not a kind thing to say.
IV. The purpose of making assertions is to describe some state of affairs. However, would the main purpose of
making the following assertions normally be simply to describe some existing state of affairs in the world?
l. "There is a wasp in your left ear."
2. “Someone has broken the space-bar on my typewriter.”
3. “This gun is loaded.”
4. “You are a fool.”
5. “love you.”
R.Albu, Semantics and Pragmatics
Now, for each of the above sentences state one or two purposes that the speaker may have had in mind when
uttering them. The first one is done for you:
To warn the hearer of the damage of being stung or to shock him or both.
All of these answers mention acts of one kind or another. Thus warning, shocking, complaining, apologizing,
insulting, reassuring etc. are all acts. They are all things that we DO using the language. An important part of
the meaning of utterances is what speakers DO by uttering them. Acts such as teasing, insulting etc. are
aspects of utterance meaning and not of sentence meaning.
V. Given the following direct speech act, write as many indirect speech acts as you can think of: “I promise
that I’ll pay you the money tomorrow”.
We can distinguish performative utterances (and sentences) from constative utterances (and sentences).
 A PERFORMATIVE utterance is one that actually describes the act that it performs, i.e. it performs
some act and simultaneously describes it.
 A CONSTATIVE utterance is one which makes an assertion (i.e., it is often the utterance of a
declarative sentence) but is NOT performative.
Compare "I promise to repay you tomorrow." "John promised to repay me tomorrow."
VI. Performative verbs or not? apologize, authorize, condemn, sing, forgive, know, sentence, do, confess,
interrogate.
For the first person singular personal pronoun see
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~lingdept/IndexicalityWorkshop/heim91-notes.pdf
VII. Name the conversational implicature in each of the following:
a. It was very foggy and a car accident occurred.
b. He has been unhappy since his dog died last year.
c. She finished her degree and got married.
d. Speaker A: It's cold in here.

Speaker B: I’ll turn the heat up.
e. Speaker A: Where's Harry?

Speaker B: Jani's taking a holiday in Bermuda now.
f. Speaker A: What's the weather prediction?

Speaker B: Bring your coat.
g. Speaker A: Are your parents coming to visit?

Speaker B: My mother is.
h. Speaker A: Do you like Rosie?

Speaker B: Well, she has a nice husband.
R.Albu, Semantics and Pragmatics
Answers:
V. I can pay you tomorrow. I get paid tomorrow (and so I can pay you).
I know you want your money tomorrow. Do you want me to pay you tomorrow? Would you rather
I pay you tomorrow?
I am willing to pay you tomorrow.
I {plan, intend} to pay you tomorrow. I will pay you tomorrow.
I am going to pay you tomorrow. I am going to give you the money tomorrow. I shall pay you
tomorrow.
Let me {assure, tell} you I will pay you tomorrow.
I’d better pay you tomorrow. It would be a good idea if I paid you tomorrow.
b.
May I assure you that I will pay you tomorrow.
I {have to, must} assure you that I will pay you tomorrow.
I’m happy to tell you that I will pay you tomorrow.
I want to assure you that I will pay you tomorrow. I {can, will} promise you that I will pay you
tomorrow.

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R.

Albu, Semantics and Pragmatics

VII. Name the conversational implicature in each of the following:

a. It was very foggy and a car accident occurred.

b. He has been unhappy since his dog died last year.

c. She finished her degree and got married.

d. Speaker A: It's cold in here.

e. Speaker A: Where's Harry?

f. Speaker A: What's the weather prediction?

g. Speaker A: Are your parents coming to visit?

h. Speaker A: Do you like Rosie?

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