TEMPORAL DEIXIS IN HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S COLLECTION OF FAIRY TALES

Abstract

Deixis is an important aspect in pragmatics that plays a role in understanding meaning based on the context of utterance. In narrative texts such as fairy tales, the use of deixis helps readers understand temporal relations within the storyline. This study aims to analyze temporal deixis in the fairy tales Däumelieschen, Der Schneemann, and Das alte Haus by HansChristian Andersen. This research employs a descriptive qualitative approach, with data in the form of words and phrases containing elements of temporal deixis, collected through documentation techniques using reading and note-taking methods. The data are analyzed by identifying forms of temporal deixis based on George Yule’s theory (2014) and interpreting their meanings by considering Karl Christian Lehmann’s concept of origo as the temporal reference point in utterances. The results show that temporal deixis in the three fairy tales appears in various forms, such as jetzt, nun, gestern, morgen, am Morgen, am Abend, später, bald, dann, and damals, which can be classified into proximal and distal temporal deixis. Overall, the use of temporal deixis in these fairy tales indicates that temporal meaning is relative to the context of utterance and highly dependent on the position of the origo, both in dialogue and narration.