What is social deixis?

Definition
	Social deixis is reference to the social characteristics of, or distinctions between, the participants or referents in a speech event.

Example
	The distinction, found in many Indo-European languages, between familiar and polite second person pronouns is an expression of social deixis .

Kinds
	Here are some kinds of social deixis:
	What is absolute social deixis? What is relational social deixis?

Generic
	Social deixis is a kind of
	What is deixis?

Sources
	Levinson 1983 63, 93
	Fillmore 1975 76

Context for this page:

Concept module: social deixis
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): S
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

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

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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