Reference and Deixis in Internet Forums

Abstract

Although deictic expressions are frequently studied interdisciplinarily, a comprehensive linguistic analysis dealing with deixis on internet forums is lacking. Accordingly, this master thesis aims to explore deictic and anaphoric reference on selected discussion fo-rums. In the first part of this paper, the essential theoretical framework for the subse-quent analysis is proposed. Afterwards, in the second part, both quantitative and qualita-tive corpus-based analysis of deictic and non-deictic anaphoric expressions is carried out to explore their functions and patterns of use on selected online forums.