Evidence of a two-way contrast in Mexican Spanish spatial deixis

Abstract

This study provides evidence for a binary contrast in the deictic system of Mexican Spanish. The analysis is based on experimental data on how native speakers interpret the adverbial demonstratives aquí/acá/ahí/allí/allá in a 3D virtual reality video game. The tests crossed the variables of distance, person, and anaphora. The results revealed that (i) when contrasting degrees of distance and anaphoric reference, ahí primarily has an anaphoric function, while aquí/acá/allí/allá primarily have a deictic function; (ii) acá/aquí designate proximal distances and the domain of the speaker; (iii) ahí designates the domain of the hearer in a person-oriented deixis; and (iv) the meaning of allí and allá cannot be explained by the deictic parameters of distance and person.