"It says here"

[P2052 at AOL.COM]

In the contexts in which I've heard, "It says here," used, "it" was not used
in a nonreferential sense; rather, it was a specific reference to an
unidentified source (one that the speaker may not have mentioned because
(s)he either knew the source and did not think it important to mention; was
not sure of the source; or, as Murie suggested, knew of no such source, but
wanted to lend credibility to his/her own opinion.   It may indicate some
kind of progression from the double subject, "(In) the book, it says . . ."
to the personified  (even passive/middle voice like?) subject, "The book
says," to cataphoric reference to "It says here in the book" to  simple
pronoun substitute, "It says here. . . "  It might also have to do with
topicalization.
                                                 P-A-T
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