Phoric adverbs as an expression of intersubjectivity

Abstract

When dealing with how subjectivity and intersubjectivity operate in Functional Discourse Grammar, Mackenzie (2017) inserts objective relations into the Representational Level and subjective and intersubjective relations into the Interpersonal Level. Those of a subjective nature are restricted to the speaker, while the guiding thread governing intersubjective relations basically consists of an emphasis on the speaker’s orientation towards the listener, making it possible to distinguish three subcategories of intersubjectivity: attitudinal, speaker-oriented, responsive, listener-oriented, and textual, which serves to organize the discourse in which both are participants. We intend to limit ourselves to this third type of intersubjectivity. Based on Mackenzie (2014), the phenomenon we have chosen as our object of study are locative adverbs, such as here (aqui, cá) and there (aí, ali, lá), which make endophoric reference to previously mentioned entities (anaphora) and to subsequently mentioned entities (cataphora). This analysis is based on examples of real spoken language use taken from the Iboruna database (Gonçalves; Tenani, 2008), and examples of real written language use taken from issues of CartaCapital magazine, specifically from the June 2019 to June 2020 issues. The results show the existence of the scale [Discoursal Context > Narrower Situational Context > Broader Situational Context], which predicts the existence of a tacit agreement between the interlocutors in the interaction about the greater or lesser distance between the referenced content and the adverbial phrase involved. The more distant the relationship, the greater the noise it causes in communication, a situation which requires the reactivation of the referent through the use of the adverb together with a specifying prepositional phrase.