Abstract
This paper discusses the uses of the Greek deictic adverbs εδώ [here] and εκεί [there] in the language of politics. The paper draws examples from political speeches which took place in the Hellenic Parliament during 2011 and discussed the financial situation of Greece during that time. It is suggested that εδώ [here] and εκεί [there] have a high degree of metonymicity since they express ‘stand for’ relations. It is argued that the deictic adverbs have a referential function since they designate a range of concepts, namely, political parties, financial, political, and social situations, the Hellenic Parliament, political ideology, decisions, etc. It is also stated that the temporal and the spatial denotations of εδώ and εκεί are subject to image schemas. In particular, the paper discusses how the Greek deictic adverbs prompt for the image schemas of containment, part for whole, and centre-periphery and suggests that these types of image schemas have a metonymic basis.
Highlights
Our language is central to everything we do; more than any other human attribute, language distinguishes us from all the other animals, and without language, there would be no possibility or cultural development (Chomsky and Otero, 2004; p. 3 [1])
Speakers act as reference points in terms of time and of space. Applying these ideas to the way the Greek deictic adverb εδώ [here] is used in political speeches, it is suggested that εδώ [here] positions speakers as reference points of situations and temporal aspects (8)
This paper examined the way the Greek deictic adverbs εδώ [here] and εκεί [there] are used in political discourse
Summary
Our language is central to everything we do; more than any other human attribute, language distinguishes us from all the other animals, and without language, there would be no possibility or cultural development (Chomsky and Otero, 2004; p. 3 [1]). It has been observed that politicians and other public figures, instead of reporting the truth, tend to claim that the media presents a distorted picture about them According to this idea, language has a political dimension since humans use language in order to communicate with others, express their thoughts and ideas, agree or disagree, discern between friends and foes, shape and/or form identity and ideology, etc. The present paper discusses how the Greek deictic adverbs εδώ [here] and εκεί [there] are used by members of the Hellenic Parliament throughout their political speeches. The paper draws examples from political speeches that took place in the Hellenic Parliament during 2011 and discussed the financial situation of Greece during that time.
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