On Cognitive and Semiotic Functions of Shifters

In: Chinese Semiotic Studies, Band 8, Heft 1, S. 227-237

Abstract

Abstract
Shifters or referential deictics combine referential and indexical functions. As compared to non-referential deictics, functioning as spatio-temporal markers, shifters index speech events in relation to the narrated events and trigger shifts between referential domains: they alter the referential or experiential grounding of events and produce the effect of" lamination". In this paper I argue that Jakobson's and Jespersen's approach allows for a broad semiotic understanding of shifters as (1) cognitive operators, prototypical ways in which embodied mind relates to the world, and (2) fictional operators, or specific functions of fictional storytelling.