Memory for deictic elements in sentences

Abstract

The deictic elements of a language are the linguistic forms relating the utterance to a particular time, place, speaker, or discourse context. In the present study subjects memorized sentences containing words from one of five deictic categories (Deictic Place Adverbs, Demonstrative Adjectives, Articles, Deictic Verbs, Temporal Adverbs). When the sentences were presented in the usual experimental setting in which they are isolated from the actual time, place, person, and discourse context, the deictic words were much more difficult to remember than the nondeictic words. In sentences with appropriate context the deictic words were little different from the nondeictic words. The results support the hypothesis that deictic elements have limited meaning in sentences without deictic context and are therefore hard to remember.