The purpose of this paper is to conduct the first systematic analysis of the spatio-temporal systems in Shakespeare’s dialogues along the lines of historical pragmatics and discourse analysis. The text used for analysis is
Language employs spatio-temporal systems by which the speakers judge how distant the situations they wish to express are from their domain. Such relationships of space and time are embodied by spatio-temporal elements such as pronouns, demonstratives, adverbs, tenses, and modals, with a proximal (close) and distal (distant) distinction. These elements can be related to each other to take either a proximal or distal perspective not only in either the spatial or temporal domain, but also in the integrated spatio-temporal domain. The speakers can continue to take the same perspective, or alternate different perspectives, in discourse. However, few studies have attempted such a comprehensive analysis of spatio-temporal systems in the development of English, not to mention in its Early Modern period.
This paper performs both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the spatio-temporal systems in