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A Pragmatic Analysis of Person Deixis in Commencement Addresses: A Case Study of Oprah Winfrey Abstract The commencement address, as a special type of language use, is relatively fixed on its hearers, such as the indispensable graduates, members of the board of university, parents and so on. Usually, a commencement address serves two functions: instructive and persuasive. Efficient use of person deixis shapes a clearly organized address and helps realize the speaker’s certain pragmatic intentions. 46975
This thesis is a case study of Oprah Winfrey, a famous American talk show host. Six commencement addresses are taken as the corpus. This study analyzes the conventional and unconventional uses of person deixis and their pragmatic intentions in specific contexts. Qualitative and quantitative analysis are carried out to distinguish unconventional use from conventional one and to reveal the features in her choice of person deixis in unconventional use.
The analysis yields some findings. First, person deixis in conventional use serves to indicate that people get involved in communication, and shapes a clear and organized address, while in unconventional use it is be used to achieve certain pragmatics effects. Second, the second person deixis is used with the highest frequency in unconventional use, especially to refer to the first person singular form, while the third person deixis the lowest. Third, person deixis in unconventional use is used to refer to other categories so as to shorten the distance for approval or to increase the distance for objectivity. Therefore, proper use of person deixis in proper context helps convey information clearly and obtain the speaker’s pragmatic intentions.
Keywords: Oprah Winfrey; person deixis; commencement addresses; pragmatic intentions
美国大学毕业演讲中人称指示语的语用研究：以奥普拉·温弗瑞为例摘 要毕业演讲是一种特殊的语言使用现象。与其他演讲不同的是，它通常有固定的听众，包括毕业生、校方成员、家长等。而此类演讲有指导和劝说两个功能。演讲时，通过有效地使用人称指示语，讲述的内容变得生动易懂，还可以达到一定的语用目的。
本文选取美国著名脱口秀主持人奥普拉·温弗瑞所做的六篇毕业演讲作为语料，结合当时的语境，试图对演讲者在人称指示语的常规和非常规用法上进行实例分析以探究其使用特点和演讲者的语用目的。本文采用了定性与定量分析相结合的方式以区分常规和非常规用法，并揭示演讲者在人称指示语的非常规使用特点。
本研究发现：（1）人称指示语通常用于指明会话中涉及的人物，使得演讲内容更有序易懂，而非常规地使用人称指示语可以达到一定的语用效果。（2）第二人称的非常规使用频率最高，尤其是在指代第一人称单数形式时，第三人称则最低。（3）非常规情况下，演讲者灵活运用人称指示语，扩大或缩短与听者的距离,有意地缩短与听者的距离有利于形成共识，而扩大相应的距离易于突显内容的客观性。因此，在适当的语境中选择合适的人称指示语不仅可以清楚地传递信息还能实现特定的语用目的。
毕业论文关键词：奥普拉·温弗瑞；人称指示语；毕业演讲；语用目的
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 3
2.1 Previous studies on deixis and person deixis 3
2.2 Previous studies on commencement addresses 5
3. Conventional and unconventional uses of person deixis and its pragmatic functions in commencement addresses