The role of deictics in discourse coherence: French voici/voilà and Russian vot/von

Abstract

Both French and Russian utilize a binary system of deictic presentatives, most commonly described on the basis of ±proximal. However, in actual usage, one deictic is systematically favored over the other and can be seen as unmarked. The remaining member of the deictic pair is thus marked and less frequent. However, French and Russian differ in which member of the pair has been marked: in French the +proximal presentative is marked and in Russian the −proximal is marked. In both languages, the choice between the members of the pair is made on the basis of the proximity of the object presented relative to the deictic center. Moreover, these simple presentatives have taken on broader discourse functions which separate their usage from the qualities of the immediate complement and depend instead on the wider context of the discourse. Not only are these elements used to organize and mark the progression of a discourse, but they are used as active interactions between the speaker and the receiver, assuring that both are assisting in building the frame of reference of the discourse and aiding in local cohesion and global coherence of the discourse.