A Study of the Operation of the Spatial Deixis in Text Cohesion

Abstract: In our use of the language, whether in the written material or in the oral domain, the linguistic items which have the property of reference are employed now and then. Deixis, the items usually carrying the personal, temporal, or the spatial characteristics of a situation, play a key part in this aspect. They for one thing simplify the process by means of the avoidance of repetition or specification, and making reference to the context can restore the elements ungiven; for another, they make the text cohere in an economic and efficient way. In this paper, the spatial deixis will be taken as the main focus. We will systematically examine the operation of these items in making text cohesion. 

Key words: spatial deixis, text cohesion