Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Empathetic Deixis

Definition: 

Empathetic deixis is the metaphorical use of deictic forms to indicate emotional or other psychological “distance” or “proximity” between a speaker and a referent.

Examples: 

(English)

  • The use of this to indicate the speaker’s empathy
  • The use of that to indicate the speaker’s emotional distance
See Also: 
Speaker
Referent
Source: 
Levinson 1983
81
Lyons 1977b
677

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.

LinguaLinks Ordering Information

Glossary Hierarchy

  • Meaning And Pragmatic Function
  • Reference
  • Exophora
  • Deixis
  • Empathetic Deixis