displacementsthis

Displacementsthis is a term used in some discussions of discourse deixis to denote a pattern of reference in which the demonstrative pronoun this is anchored to a referent or proposition that lies outside the immediate deictic center. The term appears in theoretical writings and classroom discussions as a way to describe how speakers can shift the anchor point of this to create a cohesion link across sentences or clauses, rather than pointing to a concrete noun in the current clause.

In practice, displacementsthis involves selecting a prior or later segment as the referential basis for this, allowing it to connect present discourse with a nonlocal antecedent. For example: “The plan failed. This forced a retreat from the site.” Here, this does not only point to a nearby noun but to the broader situation described previously, linking the second sentence to the earlier context. A second example: “Several hypotheses were presented. This led to a set of new experiments.” In this case, this is anchored to the outcome of the earlier discussion, guiding the reader to the consequence rather than to a specific noun.

Applications of the concept appear mainly in linguistic analysis and in natural language generation, where identifying displacementsthis can aid in building coherent reference chains and planning connective structure. It overlaps with established notions of anaphora and deixis and relates to discourse relations such as result and consequence.

Because displacementsthis is a coined term with limited sustained use, it remains a topic of debate and is not universally adopted in linguistic descriptions. Some scholars prefer traditional labels, and practical guidelines for its identification can be context-dependent.