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See you next Tuesday : a study of temporal deictic modifiers "next" and "last"

Wohlin, Johanna LU (2019) ENGK01 20191
English Studies
Abstract
This essay examines the interpretation of deictic modifiers next and last in combination with propositionally termed days and months. The investigation aimed to show in what instances these expressions can be interpreted as ambiguous, and what influence temporal distance has on this. The experiment was done by producing a number of items with varying temporal distance between imagined coding time and the first possible answer alternative. The conclusion that can be drawn, much in line with Levinson’s (1983) theory, is that the deictic modifiers next and last are interpreted as most ambiguous by the participants when there is a medium temporal distance between coding time and answer alternatives (3-4 days or 5-7 months), and least ambiguous... (More)
This essay examines the interpretation of deictic modifiers next and last in combination with propositionally termed days and months. The investigation aimed to show in what instances these expressions can be interpreted as ambiguous, and what influence temporal distance has on this. The experiment was done by producing a number of items with varying temporal distance between imagined coding time and the first possible answer alternative. The conclusion that can be drawn, much in line with Levinson’s (1983) theory, is that the deictic modifiers next and last are interpreted as most ambiguous by the participants when there is a medium temporal distance between coding time and answer alternatives (3-4 days or 5-7 months), and least ambiguous when it is the shortest possible temporal distance between coding time and answer alternatives (1 day or 1 month). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wohlin, Johanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENGK01 20191
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Linguistics, Deixis, Temporal deixis, English
language
English
id
8989301
date added to LUP
2019-07-02 14:05:34
date last changed
2019-07-02 14:05:34
@misc{8989301,
  abstract     = {{This essay examines the interpretation of deictic modifiers next and last in combination with propositionally termed days and months. The investigation aimed to show in what instances these expressions can be interpreted as ambiguous, and what influence temporal distance has on this. The experiment was done by producing a number of items with varying temporal distance between imagined coding time and the first possible answer alternative. The conclusion that can be drawn, much in line with Levinson’s (1983) theory, is that the deictic modifiers next and last are interpreted as most ambiguous by the participants when there is a medium temporal distance between coding time and answer alternatives (3-4 days or 5-7 months), and least ambiguous when it is the shortest possible temporal distance between coding time and answer alternatives (1 day or 1 month).}},
  author       = {{Wohlin, Johanna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{See you next Tuesday : a study of temporal deictic modifiers "next" and "last"}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}