Toward A Cognitive Model Of Deixis

Deixis, as a universal language phenomenon, is an important topic in linguistic studies. The traditional studies, though successful in providing a considerably detailed description of deixis, lack a theoretical framework, in terms of which deixis can be studied in a systematic way. The cognitive approaches to deixis in recent years shed new light on the study of deixis, but focus is only restricted to certain deictic expressions or the epistemic interpretation of deixis. The present study, based on the traditional and cognitive studies of deixis, builds up a cognitive model of deixis, by means of which the cognitive process of deixis can be iconically represented and the nature of deixis can be revealed from the perspective of cognition. The cognitive model of deixis can develop the theory of deixis, and provide the foundation for artificial intelligence to understand deixis. It is of theoretical significance and practical value.By analyzing the three cognitive mechanisms that bring on deixis, i.e. viewpoint and viewpoint shift, conceptual metaphor and epistemic models, we define the cognitive model of deixis as a Cartesian coordinate system with three axes --- space, time and modality, in which the speaker is situated at the origin, and vectors are applied to represent the semantic configuration of deixis. This model involves person deixis, space deixis, time deixis and modal deixis, with the capacity of covering as much deixis as possible. Both the structure and the operation of the model are cognitively motivated in that viewpoint, spatial metaphor and epistemic models shape the basic structure of the model while viewpoint shift enables the model to work in a dynamic way. Moreover, conceptual metaphor makes it coherent by mapping the physical space axis onto the psychological space axis, the past time axis, the future time axis and the modality axis. Finally, vectors are figured and operated on the perceptual and neurophysiological bases. Viewpoint and proximal/distal distinction determine the direction and the length of vectors whereas viewpoint shift motivates vectors to function by way of transformation, dilation and contraction. Such a cognitively motivated model can best simulate the way deixis is derived and applied in the experiential situatedness of human individuals, and thus clearly show the cognitive"path"of deixis in actual speech communication. In the cognitive model of deixis, geometric space is applied to figure the conceptualization of deixis. Some typical examples in the traditional studies and some commonly-used deictic expressions are adopted as language data. Their semantic configuration is iconically represented by a vector or a set of vectors. Personal pronouns and demonstratives are located on the physical space axis, and their locations are intrinsically interrelated. Vocatives and empathetic deixis reflect the speaker's emotional distance or empathy, and therefore have their configurative presentation on the psychological space axis. Events are identified on the time axis and the modality axis. Known reality is designated by past time and present time while potential reality is indicated by future time and modals. With the help of these axes, some unconventional uses of present tense, past tense and future tense can be better explained. What's more, some abnormal uses of deixis like verbs of motion, historical present and conditionals can also be better explained with the shift of coordinate system. In general, deixis in the study is about a speaker indicating the amount of"effort"that goes into determining the physical, psychological and epistemic status of a referent in terms of its definiteness and its proximity/distance vis-à-vis the origin of the model and the"effort"is iconically represented by geometric vectors.In light of the semantic configuration of deixis in the cognitive model, the nature of deixis is revealed through inductive reasoning. In the first place, the study comes to the discovery that deixis is a conceptual phenomenon rather than a linguistic phenomenon. It can thus be defined as a cognitive"path"by which the speaker accesses the profiled entity; it has only deictic meaning and is devoid of referential meaning. Deixis can be morphologically expressed in free form and bound morpheme,covering pure deictic expressions with exclusive deictic meaning and non-deictic expressions with both deictic and referential meaning.The study also differentiates the two degrees of subjectivity of deixis, the"objective"subjectivity and the"subjective"subjectivity. What is conventionally called subjectivity is actually the"objective"subjectivity in the study. It is the speaker's subjective perception and determines the common uses of deixis in speech communication. The"subjective"subjectivity results from the speaker's viewpoint shift. It is reflected in the application of all categories of deixis, and thus enables the speaker to coin various abnormal deictic expressions.Finally, the study reveals the systematic nature of deixis and builds up a system model of deixis. Deixis is thought of as a system since it is composed of various deictic expressions that are interrelated to each other. The relations between categories of deixis and those between various deictic expressions are figured out in terms of human being's cognitive mechanisms, including egocentric cognition, spatial cognition, conceptual metaphor, viewpoint shift, and categorization. Deixis is an open system, which implies that new deictic expressions will be introduced into the system with the further study on deixis.The cognitive model of deixis proposed in the study lays the foundation for comprehending deixis on computer. In order to achieve this goal, it is our next job to provide all necessary conditions for the specific orientation of each deictic expression in the coordinate system, especially the prerequisites for deictic projection. This may be a tough job, but of practical value.