[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-56256-en":3,"doc-seo-56256-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},56256,687197100911,"Himbo","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000239b6f1da00475?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1782698725881665579",8,"Research & Report","A Pragmatic Analysis of Personal Deixis in Social Media Posts","Personal deixis in social media discourse is examined through first-, second-, and third-person pronouns and their strategic use for establishing identity and managing online interaction. Grounded in classical deictic theory and computer-mediated communication frameworks, the study analyzes 847 deictic instances extracted from 200 posts across ten verified X profiles. Results show the highest frequency of first-person singular (36.8%), followed by second-person (26.1%), first-person plural (23.4%), and third-person forms (13.7%). Pronouns realize four pragmatic functions: self-presentation, audience engagement, boundary marking, and institutional reporting.","Republic of Iraq\nMinistry of Higher Education and Scientific Research\nUniversity of Tikrit\nCollege of Education for Humanities\nDepartment of English\nA Pragmatic Analysis of Personal Deixis in Social Media Posts\nA Graduation Project\nSubmitted to The Council of the College of Education for Humanities, University of Tikrit, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor’s\nBy\nTabarak Raad Fawzi\nSupervised By:\nLect. Jamila Hussein Alawi Mutlaq\n2026. A.D                                                                                                  1447. A. H\n{وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ وَكَانَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكَ عَظِيمً}\n(صدق الله العظيم)\nالنساء: [113]\nIn the name of Allah, The Most, Gracious, The Most Merciful\n“And Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and has taught you that which you did not know. And ever has the favor of Allah upon you been great.”\nGod Almighty has spoken the truth\n(Sura: Al-Nisa, Aya: 113)\nTo my parents, who have been a pillar in my academic life through their support, patience, and encouragement, always. I also devote this to my friends who provide my motivation and confidence in my abilities. Lastly, I would like to offer this research to my teachers and professors who assisted and provided much valuable information to the finalization of this research.\nACKNOWLEDGEMENTS\nI wish to thank and fully appreciate my supervisor, Asst. Lect. Jamila Hussein Alawi Mutlaq, and her very precious guidance, constant support, and academic supervision during the process of writing and completing this research. Her critical feedback, informative suggestions and constant motivations significantly worked towards enhancing the excellence of this research. Her effort, patience and educational skills contributed a great deal into steering this research to the path of success.\nI also owe the academic staff of the department a favourable learning experience along with their rich knowledge, tips and support toward my academic life. The teaching and mentoring practice I experienced has influenced my academic growth.\nI would like to give special credit to my family who supported me, understood, and encouraged me in my studies indefinitely. Their morality and faith in me have always acted as a strength and motivational factor.\nLastly, I would wish to express gratitude to all the people involved in the actual or indirect manner in the completion of this study. Any help, guidance or support that is provided on this journey is highly welcome.\nAbstract\nThis paper discusses the practical roles of personal deixis -first-, second-, and third-person pronouns - in social media discourse, and how the end-users of a social media strategically use deictic features to establish identity and negotiate social interactions via the web. Based on the classical theory of deictic (Levinson, 1983; Fillmore, 1997) and computer-mediated communication theories (Herring, 2004; Zappavigna, 2012), the research examines 847 cases of deictic usages in 200 posts on ten verified X (formerly Twitter) profiles. Findings indicate highest levels of use of first-person singular (36.8%), then second-person (26.1%), then first-person plural (23.4%), and third-person forms (13.7%). They were found to be four pragmatic functions: self-presentation, audience engagement, boundary marking, and institutional reporting. The results affirm that personal pronouns are strong pragmatic instruments, using which social media users can create identity and meaning within digital space.\nKeywords: personal deixis, pragmatics, social media discourse, identity construction, computer-mediated communication\nSection One\n1\tIntroduction\nPersonal deixis is a central topic in pragmatics because it shows how meaning depends on context rather than words alone. Pragmatics studies how speakers use language strategically and how hearers interpret intended meaning through shared knowledge, time, place, and social situation. Deictic expressions such as pronoun","cbCaifX5o2zafgEl","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifX5o2zafgEl","docx",503162,1,47,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Background on Personal Deixis\n## Personal Deixis in Digital Communication\n## Deictic Functions on Social Media","[{\"question\":\"What is personal deixis in the context of this study?\",\"answer\":\"Personal deixis refers to how pronouns depend on context to identify interaction participants. It includes first-, second-, and third-person forms that also signal relationships such as authority, solidarity, distance, and involvement.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the research explain pronoun interpretation on social media compared with face-to-face communication?\",\"answer\":\"Social media often lacks physical co-presence and may be asynchronous, addressing multiple or imagined audiences. Therefore, interpreting pronouns depends strongly on audience design and contextual assumptions rather than “here and now” conditions.\"},{\"question\":\"What pragmatic functions did the study find for personal pronouns?\",\"answer\":\"The analysis identifies four pragmatic functions: self-presentation, audience engagement, boundary marking, and institutional reporting, showing that pronouns work as instruments for creating identity and meaning in digital space.\"}]",1783803905,118,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"a-pragmatic-analysis-of-personal-deixis-in-social-media-posts","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-pragmatic-analysis-of-personal-deixis-in-social-media-posts/56256/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document","2026-07-19","2026-07-11",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is personal deixis in the context of this study?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Personal deixis refers to how pronouns depend on context to identify interaction participants. It includes first-, second-, and third-person forms that also signal relationships such as authority, solidarity, distance, and involvement.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How does the research explain pronoun interpretation on social media compared with face-to-face communication?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Social media often lacks physical co-presence and may be asynchronous, addressing multiple or imagined audiences. Therefore, interpreting pronouns depends strongly on audience design and contextual assumptions rather than “here and now” conditions.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What pragmatic functions did the study find for personal pronouns?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The analysis identifies four pragmatic functions: self-presentation, audience engagement, boundary marking, and institutional reporting, showing that pronouns work as instruments for creating identity and meaning in digital space.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]