From deixis to politeness: the evolution from the egocentric to the duocentric “I” of verbal interaction

Abstract

Not even the most recent studies about linguistics theories consider that there is a necessary and intrinsic relation among the different tools used by speakers. This paper intends to find a possible relation between two apparently different concepts, deixis and politeness, by doing a diachronic revision of theories in order to show how they are eventually connected through the second person, the listener. Taking this connection into account, we consider the possibility that deictic theories develop towards the analysis of interaction, which must take into account the importance of the listener in the linguistic choice of speaker. This fact explains that the abstract ego of deixis theories has turned into an ego who interacts with a you; this is why we claim the evolution from egocentrism to duocentrism, studying social deixis and other deictic uses, connected with politeness, in interaction and, obviously, in pragmatics.