El rol de los elementos referenciales en la indexicalidad social

Abstract

The aim of this article is exploring the role of referential elements in sociolinguistic indexicality in a Brazilian TV program called Manos e Minas, which is about the hip hop culture of suburbia in São Paulo City. Our theoretical approach comprises sociolinguistic and social cognitivist studies. Through qualitative analysis of the use of referential slangs, we show how this use indexes social identities. Results indicate that referential elements are very important to social indexicality and must be valued as more than just elements with semantic function. We conclude that it is necessary an ampliation of referentiality and indexicality notions for a better comprehension of semantic and pragmatic indexicality, the relation among the linguistic uses, social life and interactional sociolinguistic mechanisms that take part in social cognitions.