Deixis

In linguistics, deixis refers to the phenomenon where in understanding the meaning of certain words and phrases in an utterance requires contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place. Words or phrases that require contextual information to convey any meaning – for example, English pronouns – are deictic. Deixis is closely related to both indexicality and anaphora, as will be further explained below. Although this article deals primarily with deixis in spoken language, the concepts can apply to written language, gestures, and communication media as well. While this article draws examples primarily from English, deixis is believed to be a feature (to some degree) of all natural languages. The term’s origin is Ancient Greek: δείξις deixis "display, demonstration, or reference", the meaning point of reference in contemporary linguistics having been taken over from Chrysippus.