PA RT T WO
From reference . . .
70
The function of deixis in language can be better understood by asking the
question, ‘Could there be a language without deixis, i.e. without
any deictic
expressions?’ Let us consider this question by means of some examples.
Practice Imagine a language, called Zonglish, exactly like
English in all respects, except
that it contains no deictic terms at all, i.e. all English deictic terms have been
eliminated from Zonglish.
(1) Is
I would like a cup of tea a wellformed Zonglish sentence?
Yes / No
(2) Given that a Zonglish speaker could not say ‘I would like a cup of
tea’, would it be possible for him to inform someone that he would
like a cup of tea by saying, ‘The speaker would like a cup of tea’?
Yes / No
(3) In a language like Zonglish, with no deictic terms, could
one rely on one’s hearers interpreting ‘the speaker’ when
uttered as referring to the utterer?
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