Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

VIEWPOINT: TIME AND PLACE REFERENCES

493

Deictic expressions (now, here)

493a

Ways of pointing to time (e.g. tenses, and words such as today, ago), place (e.g.

here

, this shop) and persons (I, you) at the moment of speaking are called deictic

expressions. Deictic meanings are relative to where the speakers are and when

they are speaking. Such meanings may undergo changes in indirect reports to

reflect the viewpoint of the person reporting the words spoken (since the person

reporting is frequently in a different time and place from the original situation and

reporting someone else’s words).

For example, the question ‘Will you be coming here tomorrow, Jane?’ may be

reported indirectly in a variety of ways, depending on where and when the report

is made, and by whom. An illustration of some of the many possible changes to

deictic reference are given in the table below.

Examples of changes to deictic reference (original question: ‘Will you be coming here tomorrow, Jane?’)