Intersubjectivity Of Deixis:from The Perspective Of Mental Space Theory

Intersubjectivity is at the heart of what makes us human (Zlatev et al,2008). This is especially true for deixis. As an important concept, intersubjectivity is vigorously discussed by increasing number of scholars in various areas. But in China, the notion of intersubjectivity still demands much more attention of linguistics. The involvement of intersubjectivity in deixis is rarely touched.For a long time, deixis has been generally accepted as an important issue in the literature of philosophy, linguistics and psychology as well. Recently, cognitive approach is applied to shed new light on the study of deixis. Intersubjectivity is widely involved in the application of deixis, especially in most cases of deictic projection. In fact, the involvement of intersubjectivity is beneficial for achieving SP/W’s communicative intention. But up till now, cognitive analysis on intersubjectivity of deixis is so limited.So in this paper, after a critical review of related studies, intersubjectivity of deixis is at issue and some attempts are made to interpret it from the perspective of MST to clarify its cognitive mechanism. Meanwhile, the intersubjectivity of deixis in newscasts, political speeches and our daily communication is concerned to demonstrate the explanatory power of MST on the issue of intersubjectivity of deixis. In this way, a brand new interpretation on intersubjectivity of deixis is provided and a better comprehension of deixis application becomes possible. This research result will be of practical guidance to human communication.