ABSTRACT
Our general approach to the phenomena of language is dynamic. Linguistic reality, for us, is complete only in occasions of use. This orientation leads us to lay the foundations of conversation in speech-acts. The indexical/deictic function of pronouns (and functionally equivalent devices) will prove to be paramount when we analyse the elementary properties of a conversation conceived as a flow of speech-acts. The studies that follow will generally point towards the conclusion that distinctions in use are not well correlated with distinctive syntactical forms, a point agreed by most students of the social force of language. We shall bring out this point both in the analysis of conversation in terms of the social acts performed and in our exemplification of the variety and complexity of the indexical uses of pronouns.
