Skip to main content
Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

John Benjamins Publishing Company

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 7. Iconicity in spatial deixis

A cross-linguistic study of 180 demonstrative systems
  • and

Abstract

This paper presents a cross-linguistic analysis of iconicity in demonstrative systems. Several previous studies have observed that the stem vowels of demonstratives correlate with the encoding of distance (e.g. Woodworth 1991). Nevertheless, there is little systematic research on iconicity in spatial deixis (but see Johansson & Zlatev 2013). Analyzing data from a sample of 180 languages, we argue that iconicity in demonstrative systems is a multifaceted phenomenon. In addition to demonstratives’ vowels, there are several other formal aspects of demonstratives that are arguably iconic, i.e. tone, vowel lengthening, reduplication, and word length. These results corroborate a growing body of research that emphasizes the importance of iconic motivations for the encoding of meaning and raise new questions for future research.

Abstract

This paper presents a cross-linguistic analysis of iconicity in demonstrative systems. Several previous studies have observed that the stem vowels of demonstratives correlate with the encoding of distance (e.g. Woodworth 1991). Nevertheless, there is little systematic research on iconicity in spatial deixis (but see Johansson & Zlatev 2013). Analyzing data from a sample of 180 languages, we argue that iconicity in demonstrative systems is a multifaceted phenomenon. In addition to demonstratives’ vowels, there are several other formal aspects of demonstratives that are arguably iconic, i.e. tone, vowel lengthening, reduplication, and word length. These results corroborate a growing body of research that emphasizes the importance of iconic motivations for the encoding of meaning and raise new questions for future research.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. General acknowledgments vii
  4. Introduction. Reconnecting form and meaning 1
  5. Section 1. Information structure
  6. Chapter 1. On the use of there -clefts with zero subject relativizer 17
  7. Chapter 2. Impersonal passives in English and Norwegian 45
  8. Chapter 3. Atopicality as the unmarked logical structure in Scottish Gaelic 71
  9. Section 2. Usage-based approaches to grammar and the lexicon
  10. Chapter 4. On the rise of a marker of disaffiliation from Others’ discourse 99
  11. Chapter 5. Towards a radically usage-based account of constructional attrition 123
  12. Chapter 6. The compound pronouns someone / somebody and everyone / everybody in present-day spoken English 145
  13. Section 3. Theoretical issues in functional linguistics
  14. Chapter 7. Iconicity in spatial deixis 185
  15. Chapter 8. A cognitive-functional approach to watch as a verb of perception 209
  16. Chapter 9. Zero-marking or nothing to mark? 237
  17. Chapter 10. Enation and agnation in multi-level models 267
  18. Author index 299
  19. Language index 301
  20. Subject index 303
Reconnecting Form and Meaning
This chapter is in the book Reconnecting Form and Meaning
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.230.07bre

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. General acknowledgments vii
  4. Introduction. Reconnecting form and meaning 1
  5. Section 1. Information structure
  6. Chapter 1. On the use of there -clefts with zero subject relativizer 17
  7. Chapter 2. Impersonal passives in English and Norwegian 45
  8. Chapter 3. Atopicality as the unmarked logical structure in Scottish Gaelic 71
  9. Section 2. Usage-based approaches to grammar and the lexicon
  10. Chapter 4. On the rise of a marker of disaffiliation from Others’ discourse 99
  11. Chapter 5. Towards a radically usage-based account of constructional attrition 123
  12. Chapter 6. The compound pronouns someone / somebody and everyone / everybody in present-day spoken English 145
  13. Section 3. Theoretical issues in functional linguistics
  14. Chapter 7. Iconicity in spatial deixis 185
  15. Chapter 8. A cognitive-functional approach to watch as a verb of perception 209
  16. Chapter 9. Zero-marking or nothing to mark? 237
  17. Chapter 10. Enation and agnation in multi-level models 267
  18. Author index 299
  19. Language index 301
  20. Subject index 303
Downloaded on 25.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/slcs.230.07bre/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button