Language
Indexicals
Domestic Iranian destinations in London
Mar 23rd 2011, 16:41 by R.L.G. | LONDON
I'M visiting London this week, and just passed the Iran Air office on Piccadilly, where a sign advertised flights to "Tehran and domestic destinations". This gave me a quick double-take: could you fly to Tehran and, say, Leeds? Of course they meant "other destinations within Iran", but why not say "other Iranian destinations", then?
Probably because the sign was written by Iranians, for whom Isfahan is a domestic destination, at least mentally. I think this is a case of a slip in "indexical" reference. Indexicals, as I learned from my old boss and a scholar of philosophy, Anthony Gottlieb, are words that depend on the speaker's frame of reference. "Yesterday" is always an indexical, because its meaning differs based on what day it is today (another indexical). Indexicals include pronouns, too—I am a different "I" than you are. Children have trouble with indexicals (try explaining "yesterday" to a toddler). This is why Elmo, the fuzzy red Sesame Street fellow with the high-pitched voice, doesn't use pronouns: "Elmo wants to have a party with Elmo's friends!", he might say. He, like the Iran Air people, has problems with indexicals.
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Readers' comments
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Do you mean "deictic" by "indexical" or it is another category?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deixis
Indexicals are also referred to a deictic elements, and the part of reference that depends on the speaker's and listener's place, time, and social context is called Deixis. Charles Fillmore's Santa Cruz Deixis Lectures, which is probably the best-written and most interesting linguistics book of the twentieth century, are the place to find what's going on.
Fillmore's examples include a totally unanchored sentence, found in the middle of the Pacific Ocean written on a slip of paper in a bottle; it says "Meet me here tomorrow with a stick about yea big.; as well as a discussion of concepts that English is not yet prepared to deal with, like which side is the left side of a flounder.
I think that is being overly sensitive Varq. "Out here" seems a perfectly acceptable phrase with none of the sub tones you are suggesting.
"It sounds as if they are away from the centre of all things" - Well aren't they? Generally you take your home as the central point of reference. I live in London so I go "up" to Manchester and "down" to Brighton. "Out here" simply implies a place further away. There is no slight intended.
One "indexical" reference that is actually rather offensive is "out here", "out there" and the like, referring to places other than one's home.
I have heard people, almost always from the UK, in Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Hong Kong, the Gulf states and many other places referring to their current location as "out here".
It sounds as if they are away from the centre of all things, the Centre of the Universe, and in some disadvantaged backwater where the usual amenities and cultural attractions are not available. I don't think the intention is to offend. But, judging by the comments that I've heard, it certainly does.
In Pacific Place, Hong Kong I saw outside a restaurant a notice advertising the day's lunch, which was an Indian dish. The notice was headed, "Go East for Lunch Today."
Umm... Isn't India west of Hong Kong?
And a Hong Kong Sunday newspaper ran an aritcle in its education supplement about boarding schools in Canada. It was headed, "Cross the Atlantic to go to School."
Umm, again... Doesn't one cross the Pacific to go directly from Hong Kong to Canada?
Obviously, two "indexical" references (new word to me)written either by Brits or by people so used to British thinking that they refer all points to the UK, no matter where they happen to be.
delete by from my comment.
You are ignoring the context. Given that this was a sign that said Iran Air, most readers would infer that by domestic equals Iranian.
I thought it meant trips to see peoples' houses.
I remember signs in department stores for "Domestics" - rare now. I used to wonder if they stocked maids on shelves. I assume a domestic destination would be where the maid lives.