Italian

The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of deixis in Standard Italian. After a brief introduction which gives the coordinates of the phenomenon in question, the three sections of the chapter are devoted to the three main deictic categories, i.e. spatial deixis, temporal deixis and personal deixis, the last also including social deixis. The theoretical description is illustrated by examples taken from spoken and written language, with constant attention devoted to the interconnections between the three deictic categories. A special focus is given to the comparison of the Italian deictic system with other systems, especially in the Romance area, but also at a wider cross-linguistic level.