Deixis in American and British Political Discourse: A Corpus-based Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze deictic expressions in American and British political discourse, to draw conclusions about their similarities and differences concerning the frequency of each type of deixis, their means of expression as well as the dominant form used to express each of them in both national varieties of English.  Thus, the study aims to identify types of deixis in American and English political debates, to identify linguistic forms of expressing each type of deixis, and to reflect the most frequently used type of deixis in spoken political discourse in both countries. The findings and conclusions are derived from research conducted during two political debates, resulting in a corpus of 32,436 words from American and British contexts. Utilizing qualitative research methods, the study unequivocally reveals distinct differences in deictic expressions within American and British spoken discourse. The analysis highlights significant disparities in the modes of expression pertaining to these types of deixis. The American political debate predominantly employs first-person singular “I” for person deixis, whereas the British counterpart favors first-person plural “we”. Additionally, variations exist in expressions used for temporal and spatial deixis across both varieties. American English demonstrates a greater prevalence of social deictic expressions compared to British English. Noteworthy honorifics in the American debate include “President”, whereas “Prime Minister” holds similar prominence in the British debate.