The fact that additional processes of reference such as types of shifts as in (213) may interact with the uses of dieser, has led to the emergence of confusing typologies of uses, postulating a non-transparent multitude of demonstrative uses.
In the following section I will address a general mechanism of reference such as deictic shifts, which are also labeled origo or context shifts (Bühler 1934), and show how an independent treatment of this process allows us to maintain the transparent classification of demonstrative uses presented in the previous sections.
(213) When you are in NYC next week, believe me, you’ll walk down 5th avenue, then, at 43rd street you will see THIS path (here) going off to your left (directing / signaling action with hands)…
This mechanism is seen as an additional, independent mechanism, which may, on a different level also apply to demonstratives but do not affect their classification in terms of the derived uses.
In this context, also consider the section on type-token shifts in Chapter 2, example (56). Type-token shift is another independent process. Demonstratives may generally undergo type-token shifts, but this should be treated separately from their classification with respect to usage.
One type of referential shift I want to address in this section is context shift (Recanati 2004, Schlenker 2004), which has also been labeled origo shift (Bühler 1934; Fillmore 1982; Fricke 2003; Diessel 1999). This shift is present, when the origo is, exceptionally, not defined by the actual coordinates of the speaker (i.e.
dependent on the actual utterance context), but shifted to different coordinates which are not identical with the ones of the current speaker. Fillmore explains (1982: 38): “some prototypically deictic elements can be used with their deictic center ‘transferred’ to something other than the speaker of the current utterance.”
These shifts can generally apply to indexical expressions such as hier ‘here’, morgen ‘tomorrow’, jetzt ‘now’ for example, and are not exclusive to demonstratives. The standard case (without shifts) is exemplified in (214), where the indexical expressions ich ‘I’, jetzt ‘now’ and hier ‘here’ are to be interpreted with respect to the actual time-space-coordinates of the speaker, in that ich refers to the person who is uttering the actual sentence, jetzt refers to the actual time of utterance and hier to the actual location of the current speaker:
(214) Ich bin jetzt hier.
‘I am here now.’
In contrast to that, in (215) a referential shift in form of an origo-shift is present in that hier ‘here’ does not refer to the actual place of utterance but to a different location, i.e. to a context other than the actual context of utterance. One would expect to find dort ‘there’ instead, however, being shifted, hier ‘here’
works as well:
(215) Gestern lief ich den Kiesweg entlang, bis ich an einen kleinen See kam.
Hier gefiel es mir so gut, dass ich gar nicht mehr weg wollte.
‘Yesterday, I walked along the pebble path until a came to a small pond. I liked it here so much, so I did not want to leave.’
In (215) hier is a shifted indexical, in that its referece does not work as it is supposed to in the prototypical case. For hier the origo is shifted to the place described in the previous sentence, the area around the pond the speaker mentions in his / her narration. Hier refers to the salient area around the pond and not to the place in which the speaker finds herself at the very moment of utterance. A similar example for jetzt ‘now’ is given in (216):
(216) Michael war endlich in Bergamo angekommen. Seiner Liebe zu Eva stand nun nichts mehr im Wege. Er war jetzt endlich glücklich.
‘Michael finally arrived in Bergamo. Now nothing would stop his love to Eva. He was finally happy now.’
Bühler already (1934: 135) says, that the origo does not always need to be with the current speaker, i.e. related to the actual utterance situation and its parameters. He labels this phenomenon Deixis am Phantasma ‘deixis at phantasm’
and defines it as a shift of the origo, in that deictic expressions which are uttered are to be interpreted with respect to a different system of orientation and not with respect to the coordinates of the speaker in the actual utterance situation as the deictic center. A shift in time and space is made and the “kinaesthetic proprioceptions” are transferred to this new system of orientation.
Man ist nach einem charakteristischen Erlebnisvorspiel oder unvermittelt und plötzlich hineinversetzt in der Vorstellung an den geographischen Ort des Vorgestellten, man hat das Vorgestellte vor dem geistigen Auge von einem bestimmten Aufnahmestandpunkt aus, den man angeben kann und an dem man selbst sich befindet in der Vorstellung. (Bühler 1934: 135)
‘After a characteristic play you are suddenly put into the imagination of the geographic place of the imagined, you see the imagined in your inner eye from a certain point of view, which one can determine and at which one finds himself in the imagination.’ (Author’s translation)
The mechanism of origo shift may, as in the examples for hier and jetzt above show, generally apply to indexical expressions. It is thus also present with respect to demonstratives. Note, that origo shifts, with respect to demonstratives, may only apply to demonstratives in their basic deictic use, since it is the only use in which the meaning of the demonstrative actually depends on the origo (i.e. the actual speaker’s coordinates in time and space). In the other uses, further domains such as the textual discourse or knowledge which are origo-independent are distinctive.
Himmelmann (1996: 222) also acknowledges the phenomenon of origo shift.
He also relates it to Bühlers Deixis am Phantasma defining it as a use of deictic expressions which (at least in the context of narratives) pretend as if a referent was actually present in the actual utterance situation, whereas this is not the case in reality. An example with a demonstrative is given in (217):
(217) When you are in NYC next week, believe me, you’ll walk down 5th avenue, then, at 43rd street you will see THIS path (here) going off to your left (directing / signalling action with hands)…
In the example above the origo has been shifted from the speaker of (217) to an imaginary observer in the described world of NYC. Diessel (1999: 95), referring to Linde and Labov (1975) and Ullmer-Ehrich (1979) notes, that, when a
context shift is present with respect to demonstratives “the demonstrative is deictically anchored in the situation evoked by the ongoing discourse.”
The presence of context shifts for demonstratives has led to different classifications of demonstratives in examples like (217). Himmelmann (1997: 83) and (Diessel 1999: 95), for example, categorize them as members of the class of demonstratives am Phantasma, i.e. as a sub-class of the basic deictic use, since speakers relate to them “as if they were there”. In my view, there is no need to postulate a sub-class of the basic deictic use in order to explain examples like (217). I assume the mechanism of context or origo shift present in these critical examples to work on an independent level. Working “orthogonally” the mechanisms of origo shifts should not complicate the typology of demonstrative uses with the postulation of sub-classes — they should be treated separately. With respect to usage, this in (217) is to be classified as being used in the basic deictic use. Separately, we have to note that an origo shift is present, since reference is not, as usual, made to the actual situation of utterance, but to the situation evoked created via the narration.
The following two arguments support an independent treatment of origo shifts:
Firstly, these shifts are not exclusive to deictic demonstratives. They are more general and apply to other origo-dependent expressions such as pure indexicals as well (see examples above).
Secondly, these context or origo shifts are exceptional processes and in order to be licensed, special contexts have to be present which create the new or shifted situation as a point of reference. The following examples of referential shifts work only because the actual shift of the indexical is evoked via the context.
Recanati (2004: 9) lists three possibilities of how a possible context shift can be evoked: (i) imaginary contexts, (ii) thought reports (often in combination with historical present), and (iii) recorded messages:
(i) Imaginary contexts:
(218) Also, stell dir vor, du läufst den Fluß entlang, bis es nicht mehr weitergeht.
Du kommst dann ans Ende der Straße. DIESES Haus (“imaginary“ pointing gesture to the right) lässt du rechts liegen und läufst dann halblinks über die Brücke.
‘Alright, imagine you walk along the river until you can’t go any further.
Then you reach the end of the street. THIS house (“imaginary” pointing gesture to the right) on the right side you pass it and make a half-left over the bridge.’
DIESES Haus ‘THIS house’ does not refer to a building which is part of the actual utterance situation, but is a part of the imagined situation / imaginary context.
(219) Ich erinnere mich genau. Ich lief den sandigen Kiesweg entlang und träumte von mich hin. Alles ist ruhig. Dieser Ort brachte mich immer wieder in eine komische Stimmung.
‘I remember it exactly. I walked along the sandy pebble path daydreaming.
Everything is quiet. This place always put me into a weird mood.’the right side you pass it and make a half-left over the bridge.’
Dieser Ort ‘this place’ does not refer to a location which is part of the actual utterance situation, but is a part of the imagined situation / imaginary context.
(ii) Thought report or direct speech:
(220) …and then John said, “I’m fed up with all this!” and he walked away.
(Recanati 2004: 10)
I and this do not refer to the actual speaker of the utterance situation but to the agent whose thought is reported
(iii) Recorded message:
(221) This day is beautiful. (Recorded a day before the message is heard)
This day does not refer to the day of utterance, but to a different day, i.e.
the day of recording
The examples show that context or origo shifts depend on the presence of certain trigger-contexts which license the shift. Context or origo shifts need to be induced, i.e. they require certain contexts which help the hearer to accommodate that the context of evaluation is not the actual context of utterance any more, but that is has been shifted towards a different context of utterance which is (i) either created in the pre-context by the description of an imaginary situation as in (218) to (219), (ii) created by the announcement of a thought report / indirect speech, or created by the (iii) knowledge of listening to an old, recorded message as in (iii).
If the crucial sentences are isolated and if we ignore the greater contexts in which they originally appeared (e.g. if we ignore that (218) is in an imaginary context, that (220) is a thought report and that (221) is a recorded message), the respective sentences look like standard examples of the basic deictic use, which have to be interpreted in relation to the actual utterance situation:
(222) DIESES Haus [pointing gesture to the right] lässt du rechts liegen und läufst dann halblinks über die Brücke.
‘THIS house [pointing gesture to the right] on the right side, you pass it and make a half-left over the bridge.
(223) Dieser Ort brachte mich immer wieder in eine komische Stimmung
‘This place always put me into a weird mood.’
(224) I’m fed up with all this!
(225) This day is beautiful.
With respect to the classification of use, the examples including context or origo shift are to be classified as examples of the basic deictic use. Their meaning still depends on situational features (and not on the previous context or speaker / hearer knowledge). It just does not depend on the features of the actual utterance situation, as in the standard case, but on features of the new, shifted situation context. That is, the origo is shifted to a new evaluation situation, which, as such, has to be overtly created or announced.
I already noted above that origo shifts with respect to demonstratives may only apply to demonstratives in their basic deictic use, since it is the only use in which the meaning of the demonstrative actually depends on the origo. One could, however, turn the argument around and say that the examples containing dieser undergoing an origo shift are actually examples of the indefinite use of dieser (referring to a referent which is in the mind of the speaker and not physically perceptible). There are, however, some arguments which speak against this assumption and which speak for a clear separation of examples containing origo shifts and the indefinite use. First, I have shown that origo shifts generally may apply to all types of indexical expressions; hence they are expected to affect deictic demonstratives, as well. Secondly, the origo shift examples of dieser differ from examples containing indefinite dieser as (i) origo shifts require previous context, which evokes the shifted context (whereas indefinite dieser may appear totally out of the blue). Furthermore, shifted indexicals may (ii) also carry stress and may (iii) be accompanied by some form of imaginary speaker demonstration, as exemplified in (218). Finally (iv), dieser which underwent an origo shift may be interchanged by other deictic demonstratives such as DER (227). This is not the case for out-of-the-blue indefinite dieser (226), which may only be interchanged by the indefinite article:
(226) Ich bin gestern an diesem / einem / *DEM Haus vorbeigekommen. Es war so schön, dass ich es am liebsten sofort gekauft hätte.
‘I passed this / a / *DEM house yesterday. It was so beautiful, so I almost bought it on the spot.’
(227) Stell dir vor du läufst den Fluß entlang, bis es nicht mehr weitergeht. Du kommst dann ans Ende der Straße. DIESES / DAS / *ein Haus (“imaginary“ pointing gesture to the right) lässt du rechts liegen und läufst dann halblinks über die Brücke.
‘Imagine you walk along the river, until you reach the end of the road. You arrive the end of the street. THIS / DAS / *a house (“imaginary” pointing gesture to the right) on the right side you pass and make a half-left over the bridge.’
Looking at the examples of referential shift, the fact that a referential shift in form of a context- or origo-shift is present definitely needs to be accounted for.
Yet it should not interfere with our domain-based classification of demonstrative uses.