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Targeting in Language: Unifying Deixis and Anaphora.
1Department of Linguistics and Center for Cognitive Science, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States.
Frontiers in Psychology
|September 28, 2020
Summary
This study proposes a unified "targeting" system for linguistic reference, encompassing both anaphora and deixis. This cognitive system helps speakers and hearers jointly focus attention on discourse or environment targets using specific language triggers and cues.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Traditional linguistic theories treat anaphora (discourse-internal reference) and deixis (discourse-external reference) as distinct phenomena.
- This separation is based on the difference between lexical and physical referents.
- A unified cognitive system for reference has not been widely established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a single cognitive system, termed "targeting," that underlies both anaphora and deixis.
- To explain how language facilitates joint attention between speaker and hearer on a specific referent.
- To outline the mechanism by which speakers "target" referents and hearers identify them.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical proposal of a unified "targeting" system for linguistic reference.
- Description of the speaker's "targeting" process: identifying a target and using a "trigger" (e.g., demonstratives, pronouns, tense markers).
- Detailed explanation of the hearer's three-stage procedure: cue seeking, cue combination for target identification, and concept mapping.
Main Results:
- A single linguistic/cognitive system, "targeting," can account for both anaphoric and deictic reference.
- The system involves speakers directing hearer attention to a target using triggers.
- Hearers employ a structured cue-seeking and integration process to identify the intended referent.
Conclusions:
- Anaphora and deixis are not fundamentally different but are unified under the "targeting" cognitive system.
- This system provides a parsimonious explanation for how language achieves joint attention and reference.
- The proposed framework offers a new perspective on the cognitive underpinnings of linguistic reference.
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