A Pragmatic Study On Person Deixis In Chinese TV Talk Shows

Scholars are keen on studying person deixis in different discourses, however, little research has been done on person deixis in TV talk shows.A talk show is regarded as a particular kind of face-to-face conversation, which seems to be a public extension of privately casual conversations. Since TV talk shows have discursive features of casual communication and institutional discourse, an analysis of person deixis in TV talk shows, especially if it focuses on the pragmatic functions of unconventional usages of person deixis, will not only enrich linguistic understanding of TV talk show discourse but also expand the research field of person deixis.By applying theories of discourse analysis and politeness principle, this paper intends to solve the following questions:₁. Does the use of person deixis in TV talk shows correspond to its discourse characteristics? If not, what are reasons for the discrepancy?₂.What are forms and pragmatic functions of unconventional usages of person deixis in TV talk shows?This study gets the following findings:Firstly, the use of person deixis in TV talk shows corresponds to its discourse characteristics. Secondly, three types of unconventional usage are used in TV talk shows:one form of metonymic reference （"we" for "I"）, four forms of crossing reference （"I" for "you","we" for "you","you" for "I" and "he" for "I"）, two forms of covering reference (generic "we" and generic "you". Thirdly, unconventional usages of person deixis perform three pragmatic functions in TV talk shows. Firstly, in cases of "we" for "I","he" for "I", these two forms of unconventional usage are used to show the modesty of the hostess and invited guests. Secondly,"we" for "you" and "I" for "you" are used to show the hostess’s sympathy towards the audience. Thirdly, generic "we", generic "you" and "you" for "I" are used to maximize agreement between the hostess or invited guests and audience. These three forms of unconventional usage reflect the influence of audiences on the hostess and invited guests in TV talk shows.