Knowra Deixis Deixis Deixis is the use of expressions whose reference depends on the speech situation, including its participants, place, and time. Words such as “I,” “here,” and “tomorrow” are interpreted relative to that situation.
Person deixis : The use of expressions whose reference depends on who is speaking, addressed, or mentioned. Pronouns such as “I” and “you” identify participants through their roles in the speech situation.
Indexicality : The relation in which a sign points to or is connected with a feature of its context. Deixis is a linguistic form of indexicality, where expressions point into the speech situation.
Pragmatics : The study of how context contributes to the interpretation of language. Deixis is a central pragmatic phenomenon because context fixes its reference.
Indexical : A linguistic expression whose interpretation varies systematically with features of its context. Indexicals are the broader class of context-sensitive expressions that includes deictic forms.
Spatial deixis : The use of expressions whose reference depends on location relative to a speech situation. Words such as “here” and “there” locate things relative to a speaker or other spatial anchor.
Context of utterance : The circumstances surrounding a spoken or written utterance, including its time, place, and participants. These circumstances determine the reference of expressions such as “I,” “here,” and “now.”
Reference : The relation between a linguistic expression and the entity or situation it identifies. Deictic expressions achieve reference through features of the speech situation.
Referring expression : A linguistic expression used to identify or pick out an entity in a discourse. Some referring expressions identify entities without relying on the immediate speech situation.
Temporal deixis : The use of expressions whose reference depends on the time of speaking or another temporal anchor. Words such as “now” and “tomorrow” locate events relative to a speech time.
Demonstrative : A word or phrase, such as “this” or “that,” used to identify a referent in context. Demonstratives often require a speaker’s gesture or shared attention to fix their referents.
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