The deictic dimension of exclamations: On the use of wh-exclamatives in German face-to-face interaction

This paper puts forward the hypothesis that exclamations are inherently deictic utterances: They direct the recipient’s attention to a certain object of surprise. Based on case studies from German face-to-face conversations, the study shows that exclamations can be categorized according to Bühler’s three modes of pointing. First, exclamations most commonly refer to a visually perceivable object in the environment of the speaker and the recipient, which corresponds to Bühler’s ocular demonstration. Second, they can be related to what somebody has said previously, Bühler’s anaphoric deixis. Third, exclamations can point to objects that only exist in the imagination of the speaker and the recipient, Bühler’s imagination-oriented deixis. This abstract mode of pointing is used less frequently with exclamations and seems to be less apt to produce the effect of exclamativity. This indicates that, in interactive contexts, prototypical exclamations are anchored in the here and now of the immediate environment