Merkitys, tilanne ja toiminta: suomen pronominit ja pronominikantaiset partikkelit puhetilanteessa

The research objects of the project are the Finnish demonstrative and personal pronouns, and particles that have their origins in the pronouns. The data consist of audio and video recorded conversations and written texts. The project has (1) descriptive and (2) theoretical aims: (1) Since pronouns are referential indexicals, they organize their indexical ground while they refer. In other words, they convey indexical meanings. The main question is: what kind of functions do pronouns gain when they loose their referentiality and grammaticalize into particles? What happens to their indexical meaning? The project mainly focuses on the relation of grammar to speech situation on a synchronic level, but it also takes the diachronic perspective into account. (2) Theoretically, the project aims at arriving into a constructive combination of different trends in linguistic research. Particularly the project seeks to combine the conversation analytic method and visions with the theoretical framework of cognitive linguistics. While linguistically oriented conversation analysis lacks a proper semantic theory, cognitive linguistics lacks a true interactional content. Particularly, the members of the project are interested in the concepts of schema and perspective, and in including the dynamic, interactional nature of language in their interpretation.